Tontine
by boxerboo
Summary: An ancient Time Lord secret goes missing. A quest featuring all 13 Doctors in a round-robin race against time. COMPLETE in 15 chapters.
1. Chapter 1

TONTINE

Part One

Prologue

_Out, far out, beyond any semblance of Creation, they gathered._

_Under a dead sky, consisting of the last, cold stars of this Universe, they stood on a ball of rock._

_There are many myths about the Time Lords. That they had all burned in a great Time War with a long extinct race of mutants. That was just one of them._

_No, that's not right, protested some. They had been thrown out of time in a bubble of their own making. Isolated, malicious and scheming. Another._

_To some they had attained the status of supernatural saviours. To others, bogeymen._

_Some prayed to them, some spat at the very mention of their name. Some doubted whether they had ever existed at all. Most had never even heard of them._

_Whatever the truth, this assembled baker's dozen in their high-necked robes stood in a horseshoe-shaped group around the crude wooden cot. They were the last of all, summoned by a message impossible to ignore. A death cry from one of their own._

_The End of a Time Lord, any Time Lord is a big deal. But this one - this special one - out here, commanded their attention like no other. They had thought-warped to this place in an instant._

_One of their number, nominally titled 'President', stepped forward and crouched over the dying figure in the cot. He recognised him of course. Although Time Lords can regenerate; changing their appearance and persona to outsiders, they always remain identifiable to each other._

_But they were not immortal. The President could see that the fires of regeneration had died in this one. His lives squandered, hand over fist. He faced the finite._

"_You came." A whispered voice from the cot._

" _Did you ever doubt it?"_

"_Even for a renegade like me?"_

"_Even for you. But you knew we would come. And you know why."_

_A dry laugh. "I might have guessed you would have an ulterior motive."_

_The President bent forward. He spoke urgently. Time was running out. "Where is it?"_

_No answer. But the eyes flickered, scanning the President's face._

"_The Spark. Tell me quickly. It is of no use to you now," said the President. _

"_It never was. I could never control it..." Interrupted by a burbling cough._

"_So?"_

"_You didn't think it would be as easy as that, did you? It's hidden."_

_The President straightened. "You know the consequences. We need it now."_

"_There's a chance that HE might find it for you."_

"_Which one?"_

"_All of him. But there can only be one winner in this Tontine." The hand fell back onto the cot and his last words were a mere gasp. "Winner take all..."_

_He died._

_The President held out his hands over the body, as if cupping water. They filled with a liquid, appearing from nowhere. The liquid hardened, first becoming gel, then a perfect transparent sphere._

_An Elder from the group stepped forward beside the President. He looked at the transparent globe in the President's hands almost reverently. "A Matrix Orb." he said, whispering. The Elder then looked down at the corpse. "Did he tell you where to find the Spark?"_

_The President shook his head. The surface of the Orb began to smear with colour, pale at first, then becoming pulsatingly stronger._

_The President permitted himself the merest smile. "It has a trace," he said to the Elder. "Faint, but something."_

"_Then we have a chance," murmured the Elder._

_The President nodded. He threw the globe overarm into the freezing empty sky where it vanished with a tail of fire, ripping through temporal sinew._

_The President looked down at the withering body, crumbling into dust as he watched._

"_I never really understood why he adopted that stupid title," said the Elder at his side. _

"_Simply a declaration of intent," said the President. "He wanted to rule. Master of all he surveyed." _

_Master._

(End of Part One)


	2. Chapter 2

TONTINE

Part 2

11th Doctor

'Border Dispute'

Queen Elizabeth of England stood at her leaded window, looking out over the verdant rolling hills of her kingdom, stark green against the striated azure sky, and thought them good. They were English. Theirs by right and geography. As English as English could be. Non-negotiable. Absolutely.

She sighed and held up her hand mirror. She was bearing up well, considering her age. A little grey here and there, the odd wrinkle around her eyes and mouth. You couldn't call them laughter-lines, of course. There had been precious little laughter in her life. A life of duty and burden and responsibility. Did her subjects feel this way, she wondered?They were responsible only for themselves. They couldn't feel this pressure, surely? Not when she had the hopes and expectations of a whole nation on her shoulders.

The Queen sighed. And now this. Perhaps the biggest test of all. It wouldn't be easy. There had been misunderstandings and miscalculations on both sides. Innocent lives lost. They were on the brink of war.

The Queen knew that unless the meeting was a success; unless a rapprochement could be made with the Scots, then both nations faced faced an abyss of disaster.

She turned as the door opened and her Chamberlain entered.

"Not now!" she snapped. How dare he intrude on her solitude at this time?

"Your Majesty." he bowed low but did not leave. It must be a matter of some importance.

"What is it?"

He stepped aside and two figures swept in, unannounced, behind him.

A red-headed girl with freckles and a wide grin. A man with elbow patches, independent hair and a bow tie.

"Hello, Liz," he said.

The Queen gasped, her face cracking open with a huge smile. "BLOODY HELL!" screamed Liz 10. " IT'S THE DOCTOR!"

.

"So what brought you here, after all this time?" asked the Queen.

They were sitting out on a little balcony overlooking the city and drinking instant coffee. Amy was devouring a huge cheeseburger.

"Oh, an idle curiosity. Amy wondered what had happened to _Starship UK_."

"We landed ," said Liz 10. "Must be eighty years ago now. And before you ask, the Star Whale was headed out towards the Descrii system the last we heard. He had detected the mating call of a female from out there."

"Seems like a nice world to call home," said the Doctor, sipping his drink.

"Yeah. Everything went well..." She faltered.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "I can feel an 'until' coming on."

Liz 10 smiled mirthlessly. "Fifteen years ago _Starship Caledonia_ arrived."

"Caledonia...the Scots?"

"The Scots."

"Yay! Go Scotland!" interjected Amy, making a circling motion with he fist in the air. She frowned into silence as the Doctor shot her a look.

"I take it relations are a bit strained?" he continued.

"It was OK at first. They set up on the other side of the Applegrass Hills. We visited. They visited. There were some petty incidents. Misunderstandings about territory. They were a bit bolshy; you know the Scots."

Amy went to say something but the Doctor adroitly manoeuvred a piece of burger into her mouth.

"We were a bit heavy-handed, maybe. Protest movements. People on the streets. Then there were the bombings."

"Bombings?"

"On both sides. Extremists. Innocent people died. The Scots have put in a claim to part of the Applegrass Hills and it could mean war."

"Ah, good old England. Good old Scotland. You can always rely on them for a bust up over a border dispute. Fine old tradition." The Doctor, who had begun pacing about as Liz 10 spoke stopped suddenly and looked her directly in the eye."Where are you now? What point have you reached?"

Liz 10 shrugged. "There's a summit. Tomorrow. Me and Mary. We're going to sit down and sort things out face to face."

"Mary?"

"Yeah. The Scottish Queen."

Amy let out a peal of incredulous laughter."Mary Queen of Scots? Now I've heard everything."

"I was thinking..." Liz 10 looked needily at the Doctor.

"You were wondering if I could hang around for the meeting. Keep a watching brief. A friendly ear."

"You helped us all that time ago, Doctor. What do you say?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. " Look, I don't normally involve myself in the affairs of other people..." he flashed a sharp look at Amy who had snorted out loud and was making a long-nose gesture with her hand. "But it would be a shame to waste all that good work. OK... It's a deal."

"Good." Liz 10 drained her coffee from the styrofoam cup. " We've got a bit of time. Do you fancy a conducted tour around Buck House?"

.

'Buck House' proved to be a couple of stories in a large residential tower. There was a delightful lack of formality about the place, except for a relatively grand stateroom, trimmed up with fine art and sculptures. Amy looked with some astonishment at a cabinet containing the crown jewels.

"They go back generations, " said Liz 10 at her side.

"Shouldn't they be under lock and key?"

The Queen shrugged. "They're not valuable, love. Just lumps of rock and metal."

Times change, thought Amy, remembering the day she had viewed these very items in the Tower of London as a little girl.

"This is where Queen Mary will be formally received, " said Liz 10. "After the reception we will go away into a locked room, just the two of us, to try and thrash out a settlement."

Amy wandered off and pulled up short as she reached a pair of glass booths, containing grinning carved heads.

Smilers.

She shuddered at the memory of the creepy android security system that had menaced them back on _Starship UK_. During the tour Liz 10 had mentioned that the Smilers had all been deactivated, but a few were kept in museums and the like. Curios.

"Hey, Liz," called out Amy. "I hope these things don't give Queen Mary the heebie- jeebies!"

At the other end of the room Liz 10, who was in earnest conversation with the Doctor, waved an acknowledgement.

Behind Amy was a whirring click. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Slowly Amy turned.

Both Smilers' heads had rotated, showing barred teeth; their angry, 'attack faces'.

There was a double hiss and the cabinets swung open, allowing the Smilers to stand and move towards the girl.

Amy took a surprised step back. Deactivated?

The Smilers were upon her, raising their arms towards her throat.

"England for the English!" they chorused, in their reverberating monotone.

Amy was in a kind of paralysed trance. She wanted to cry out, to turn and run but her body didn't seem to work. All she could see were the two ferocious faces.

Then something broke the spell.

"Pond! Duck!" The Doctor's voice cut across the room. As Amy dived for the floor there were two loud shots. When she looked up the Smilers were both on their backs, twitching.

Liz 10 stood with a smoking blaster in each hand. "Yep," she said, holstering the weapons. "Still got it!"

The Doctor helped Amy up. "If I'd have had a bit more time to think, I suppose I should have tried ' Duck Pond!'"

Amy groaned. "How long have you been waiting to get that one in?"

"Ever since I met you."

"They're regenerating again." said Liz 10, reaching for her weapons.

"Not this time, they don't!" The Doctor bounded over to the struggling androids and scanned each each with a searing green flash from his sonic screwdriver. Both lay still, smoke whisping from their neck joints.

"I thought you said they had all been deactivated?" said the Doctor. He had pulled open a small flap on the chest of one of the Smilers and was rummaging through a tangle of exposed filament wires.

"They have," said Liz 10, frowning. "Or at least I thought they had."

"Did you hear what they said? 'England for the English'." Amy pursed her lips.

"I don't think androids develop xenophobia just like that...Eureka!" The Doctor pulled out a small semi-transparent cube from the Smiler's chest. "Attached to the linguistic receptors." He scanned it. "Oh, how smart is that! Amy, please say something, anything."

"What? Err...would you like a kiss from a hot nun, big boy?" Seeing the Doctor's startled look she shrugged." Sorry. First thing that came into my head. From the kissogram days."

The Doctor held up the cube for them to see. It twinkled with red tell-tale lights, in time with Amy's words.

"It's your _accent_, Amy. Someone rigged these up to be activated by a Scottish accent!" he turned to Liz 10. "Clever. Very clever. You know what this means?"

Liz 10 looked furious."Yeah. Somebody doesn't want this bloody summit to work."

.

The following day Amy sat nervously with the Doctor in the Buck House stateroom.

Overnight the Queen had ordered all Smilers to be examined. Each one of them, it was found, had been fitted with the deadly cubes. All had been removed and dismantled by teams working around the clock.

On the Doctor's advice the formal reception had downsized to only the most trusted of Liz 10's retinue and a minimal number of security guards.

"Easier to keep an eye on, " was his explanation.

At the appointed time the great doors were opened and the assembly rose. Amy was reminded of a wedding ceremony. Then she heard a swirl of bagpipes and the Scottish entourage entered.

They were led by the Queen, a middle aged woman with fiery red-hair and high cheekbones. Beside her was her piper and they were closely followed by half a dozen hard-looking men with restless eyes. Security, thought Amy.

The Scots wore clothing in various shades of blue, with tartan piping. A couple of banners were held proudly aloft. The cross of St Andrew and the Lion Rampant. Amy felt a pang of pride. Out here, among the stars in this distant future, they were still thriving, her people.

Mary and Liz shook hands briefly. Barely touching fingertips.

Amy's reverie was disturbed as the English Chamberlain stood. Momentarily, she thought that this was part of the protocol, but she saw a look of surprise pass across Liz 10's face.

"England for the English!" he screamed. His arm went back to throw something. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. A shot rang out from the Scottish piper and the Chamberlain staggered and fell, but not before a cricket ball-sized device rolled slowly towards the two Queens. Pandemonium broke out as people dived for the floor. Amy was unceremoniously bundled over by the Doctor but not before she saw Liz 10 dive in front of Mary.

The explosion, when it came, was something less than Amy had expected. But it was enough to blow the nearby window out and there was a good deal of smoke.

In the terrible silence that followed Amy looked across the room, coughing at the acrid stench. The Scottish bodyguards had all drawn weapons and were aiming dangerously at their English counterparts, who all had blasters trained on them. A Mexican stand-off.

"PUT UP YOUR WEAPONS!" The voice seared across the confusion, demanding to be obeyed. It was pure Glaswegian.

"But ma'am, yon Sassenachs tried to assassinate you!" This from the piper.

Queen Mary cradled the wounded, shivering, Liz 10 in her arms. "And this English Queen saved my life!"

Weapons were lowered.

.

A couple of days later saw four figures tramping to the summit of the plush hills overlooking the city-state of England.

"Now you sure you're up to this, hen?" asked Queen Mary.

Liz 10, with her left arm in a sling and a bandaged head smiled. "Just what I need, a bit of fresh air."

The Doctor and Amy exchanged smiles.

"So have they rounded up the rest of the gang?" asked the Doctor.

Liz 10 nodded."A bunch of nationalist fanatics. Now their leader's dead they're singing like canaries. They rigged up the Smilers but when that was rumbled they had to take direct action. They put together a bomb in double quick time for the ceremony."

"Good job it didn't work properly or we wouldn't be here to talk about it," said Mary.

At the top of the hill stood the Tardis.

"No gobsmacked remarks? No disbelieving looks?" asked the Doctor.

"Nothing surprises me about you, mate." said Liz 10.

The Doctor looked disappointed. "And what does the future hold for your peoples?"

"We've got another meeting scheduled next week." said Liz 10.

"Aye, in Edinburgh, "added Mary.

"Things are looking good, "said Liz 10. "although I'm pretty sure I'm going to abdicate."

"Eh?"

"Well, I am getting on a bit. I'm 400 next year. Don't want to outstay my welcome."

"Looking pretty good on it too." said the Doctor. "Who's going to take over? You?" he asked of Mary.

"Och, no! I'm not really interested in being Queen. I'm more interested in Rugby football! One of the first things I want to do is arrange a friendly international."

"So hows it going to work? If you both don't want to be Queen?" asked Amy.

"We agree that we both fancy a system of elected representatives meeting to decide on behalf of the people."

"A parliamentary democracy! Good idea. Worked pretty well in the past. But if you take my advice -" The Doctor leaned forward and tapped he side of his nose "- you'll need to keep a close eye on their expenses."

He straightened up and looked around, breathing deeply. They had a wonderful view from the top of the hill. Down below lay sprawling England. Across the other side lay the City-state of Scotland, shimmering in the sunshine.

The Doctor bent down and ruffled the grass. Amy at once was almost overwhelmed by the smell of fresh apples.

"Applegrass," mused the Doctor. "You know, you've got a fine planet here. Abundant resources, temperate climate. What's it called again?"

Liz 10 shrugged. "We never got round to naming it?"

"I've a suggestion. How about 'New Earth'?"

"New Earth? It's got a ring to it." said Liz 10.

"I like it," said Mary. "Aye...New Earth."

The Doctor smiled. "I might drop in some time and see how you're getting on." He unlocked the Tardis. "OK, Pond, time we were off. Best not to keep old Winston waiting too long."

"Hold on," said Mary, frowning."Did you say 'Pond?'"

"Yes. She's Amy Pond. Why?"

"There's a coincidence. My family name is Pond. Going back for generations."

There was a moment's silence as the two women looked at each other, the middle-aged Queen of Scotland and the Doctor's companion. Both with the same tumbling red hair and freckles.

Amy turned slowly to look at the Doctor. "What did she just say..?"

"I think you've heard enough." The Doctor bundled Amy unceremoniously into the Tardis, pausing only to turn and give a stilted bow to their majesties before slamming the door shut behind him.

A few seconds later the police box faded away, accompanied by the wild trumpetting of its engines.

"Bonkers!" observed Liz 10.

.

Halfway back down the hillside they were met by a breathless official, Liz 10's new Chamberlain.

"Your majesty...majesties." he stammered. "Momentous news."

"What is it?"

"We have received communication from a ship in orbit. They have requested landing coordinates."

"Ship? What ship?"

"They have identified themselves as _Starship Tricolore_ !"

"Oh My God!" exclaimed Liz 10. "The bloody French are here!"

.

_In the darkened quiet of the Buck House stateroom the crown jewels juddered slightly in their display cabinet as the Gallifreyan Matrix Orb detached itself from its hiding place within the Golden Sceptre of State and floated into the centre of the empty room, passing through the thick glass of the cabinet as if it wasn't there._

_Its survey was concluded. The Spark was not here. It realigned vectors and primed new spatio-temporal cocrdinates. The Orb throbbed with power before rocketng upwards, phasing through the building walls and disappearing into the blue sky at an unfathomable speed _

(End of Part 2)


	3. Chapter 3

TONTINE

Part 3

5th Doctor

'Perchance to Dream'

"Doctor!"

"Hmm?"

"Can you hear me, Doctor?"

"Hello, Adric."

"You don't sound surprised to hear me. Considering...you know..."

"That you're dead? Nothing much surprises me any more. It's a weird universe."

"You're a lot more laid back about it than Nyssa and Tegan were."

"You've spoken to them?"

"I tried. They both thought they were dreaming. Nyssa listened for a while but her scientific mind couldn't accept it. When she woke up she forgot all about it instantly."

"And Tegan"

"She got angry. You know Tegan. She seemed to think that I had violated her privacy in some way. In the end she told me to piss off, whatever that means."

"That sounds like Tegan alright. Did she remember any of it?"

"Bits. She put it down to a bad night's sleep. A nightmare, she said to Nyssa. She never liked me did she? She always thought I was a snot-nosed brat."

"Yet she cried for you. They both did."

"Yes, I saw that. I also saw them ask you to do something about it. Go back in time to rescue me."

"You know the answer to that one, Adric."

"Do I?"

"The Second Law of Thermodynamics."

"Entropy?"

" All living things are born and die. Just like stars and even the Universe itself. Everything dies. It was your time, I'm afraid."

"You don't die though, do you? I was there when you changed, remember? After you fell off that telescope."

"I can sometimes cheat death. If the moment is prepared for or if the event is within certain parameters. But I am not immortal. I get twelve regenerations, thirteen lives maximum. Then that's it."

"It must be frightening when you get to your last one."

"I'll let you know. Tell me, Adric, where are you now? What can you see? I'm curious."

"Nothing. I'm just...I don't know...out there somewhere. I was wondering whether..."

"Yes?"

"Maybe I'm still alive. That ship exploded in N-space. I died in the wrong universe. Perhaps if I could somehow get back to E-space I might live again."

"Hmm. I'll keep an open mind on that. Of course you could be experiencing death in the same way that every other sentient being does."

"An afterlife? I hadn't thought of that."

"I just mention it as a possibility."

"Doctor, what are you doing at the moment?"

"Not a lot. I'm in the Tardis. Resting."

"Asleep?"

"Yes."

"Then I could just be a dream of yours, couldn't I?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Time Lords don't dream."

"What, ever?"

"It's a quirk of our race."

"I find that very interesting."

"In what way?"

"Well, if you are not dreaming, then I must be...something."

"That has a certain logic. Adric..."

"Yes?"

"I'm beginning to wake up. Was there something specific you wanted me for?"

"Yes. I want you to define a word for me. A word I've never heard before."

"What word?

"Tontine."

"Tontine?"

"Yes. What does it mean?".

"Erm...it's original meaning is economic. A group of people who shared a common fund but only the sole survivor receives it all. Typically a will."

"You're in some kind of Tontine, Doctor. Although it's not for a fund of money."

"I don't understand. Who told you this?"

"While I was out here, drifting, I made contact with...something. I don't know what it was but it's on a quest. Searching for something. Something to do with you."

"Me?"

"Well, not you exactly. One of your selves. It's roaming around your timestream. Backwards and forwards.."

"Intriguing. But you say it's not me exactly?"

"No, It's gone now, whatever it was. Your particular incarnation didn't have what it was looking for."

"Oh."

"You sound disappointed."

"Not really. It's hard to be disappointed when you don't even know you're in a competition."

"I suppose so."

"I'd like to ask you more about this but..."

"You're nearly awake."

"Yes. Is there anything else?"

"Doctor... I've got nowhere to go...I'm frightened."

"I may be able to help. I know a place where you will be safe. Where nobody will ever hurt you; where you will never age; where you will never be lonely or feel like an outsider again."

"Sounds great. Where is it?"

"In my mind. As a memory, Adric. What do you say?"

"I don't think I'll get a better offer. OK, Doctor. Here I come."

"Time to go now. Goodnight, Adric."

"Goodnight, Doctor."

(End of Part 3)


	4. Chapter 4

TONTINE

Part 4

7th Doctor

'Corridors'

As I watch myself I think, 'What a funny little man I have become!'

Unlike others of my kind I can never choose my new body. I am, after all (whisper it), a half- breed. And one of the consequences of being a half-breed is that I lose control over the outcome of my regenerations.

So that is why I look at myself and wonder.

There I am, short of stature, dark jacket, paisley scarf and pork-pie hat. Somebody once described me as an 'end-of-pier comedian.' I am that and more. I am a Time Lord of Gallifrey. Time's Champion. A player in the Great Chess Game of Eternity. I face down evil and topple governments. I am a World Killer.

And yet I also play the spoons.

I am in a corridor of many rooms. I have travelled here via many corridors of many rooms.

I can feel my fear as I stand outside the last door of this particular passage. It doesn't show, of course, the fear. But it bubbles inside me.

I have opened many doors on the way here. Looked in on many rooms.

The first contained Tabby and Tilda. A room full of butchered meat - human meat. They looked angry at the intrusion, their maws covered in blood. I slammed that door quickly, shuddering at the memory.

Other doors:

Bannermen...Kandyman...Cybermen...

All in here.

Fiery Dragons...Cats...Cheetahs on horseback...

All in here.

Clowns...Dark Matter... Nimrod...

All in here.

The Destroyer...of Worlds:

Me. I am in here too.

All dust to be bagged. Trash.

I slammed all those doors shut...but one still remains.

Fearfully I open it.

A sphere of glimmering glass blinds me. It is looking into my soul.

It bombards me with _everything. _All I ever was, all I will ever be.

I, the funny little man, close my eyes. After all, who wants to know everything about themselves?

.

"Professor! Professor! Come on...!"

Ace shook the Doctor awake. He blinked at her stupidly for a moment before focussing. His surroundings solidified, dispelling the haze of his mind.

Quicksilver waves lapped up onto the horseshoe-shaped beach and the sky was full of disparate moons.

Ace sat back on the sand, next to her companion. "You were shouting and screaming. You seemed to be having a bad dream," she said.

" Many actually. It sometimes affects me like that," said the Doctor, stretching.

"It didn't affect me at all, " said the girl.

The Doctor rose, putting on his hat and coat. "I told you it wouldn't. The Praxis gas is only in sync with my kind of physiognomy."

"So you've had a clear out then? All the bad times."

The Doctor breathed in deeply. "You could put it like that, Ace. We all need refreshing now and again."

They started to walk back along the beach to where the Tardis stood. As the Doctor unlocked the doors Ace paused, her face working.

"Professor."

"Yes, Ace?"

"Have I got this right? Every so often you come here to wallow in some kind of natural gas that bubbles up up from underground. This Praxis gas stuff kind of clears out your mind?"

He nodded, looking a little puzzled at her tone.

"When I was a kid, back at school in Perivale, some of my mates used to do exactly the same. Skunk...Smack...Weed...Coke..Crack..call it what you like. They wanted to block out bad memories...or the present...or the future. I saw what it did to them. They became shells...empty shells. It killed some of them, in the end. I don't want that to happen to you."

"Come on, Ace. This isn't the same kind of thing at all."

"Isn't it?" She turned to look the little man directly in the eyes. "Then tell me, Doctor, what exactly is the difference?"

There was a long silence.

(High in the sky, unnoticed by either of them, an impossible spherical shooting star blazed upwards, leaving a fiery trail as it punched its way out of this reality)

At length the Doctor shook his head. "You're right, there's no difference. No difference at all." He looked back down the beach. "This will be the last time. Thank you, Ace."

(End of Part 4)


	5. Chapter 5

TONTINE

Part 5

9th Doctor

'Txtwrld'

_Petal234 ...s_o we went out dancing last night at the Old Arcadian. 5 of us. Maggie pulled as usual. I wasn't really in the mood.

_Hunkybuns14 _Admit it! U R saving U 4 me.

_Petal234 _Ooh, we do think a lot of ourself, don't we?

_Hunkybuns14 _If only U could C me...

_Petal234 _What would I do? Swoon ?

_Hunkybuns14_ U would drop everything and rush 2 my side. LOL.

_Petal234_ Ha! Dream on. But...

_Hunkybuns14 _What?

_Petal234_ Y can't I C U?

.

The picture was one of rampant vegetation as far as the eye could see. It may have been a city once, but the buildings were now all crumbling boxes, covered with green.

Rose stood on the highest point around, atop a small mountain. She wondered at the silence of it all. The lack of birds wheeling in the sky or animal noises from the jungle below. Even the thin cold breeze on her cheek was noiseless.

Behind her was a small, blocky building sitting on the peak of the mountain. A huge thin metal pylon rose from it with perpendicular precision. On and on it went, until it seemed to almost touch the sinking sun in the deep blue sky overhead.

The Doctor emerged from the open doorway of the building, gathering his leather jacket around him as he joined his companion.

"Well?" asked Rose.

"It wasn't a distress call after all," he said, staring out over the valley. "More of a conversation. Actually, many, many conversations. Millions."

"But the place is deserted."

"It's all a bit sad. I managed to access an old archive database in there. This was once a well-ordered society. Thriving. Peaceful."

"What happened?"

"Technology. Someone invented a vast communications web. People retreated into their individual boxes. They could text, twitter and tweet to their heart's content, probably to their next door neighbour! This is just one of the relay stations. There are thousands of them."

"So, what happened to all the people?"

"Disease. A worldwide virus. They were all looking the other way and it overwhelmed them."

"It wiped them all out?"

He nodded. "Overnight."

"What about the conversations?"

" Relics. A whisper of the past repeated on a never-ending loop The equipment is powered by volcanic heat from the centre of the planet. Virtually limitless. What the Tardis intercepted was just one conversation among billions. Ghosts of the past."

"That's awful. Can't you turn it off? It seems so morbid."

The Doctor shrugged. "I could do it easy as you like." He thumbed the building over his shoulder."Throw a few circuit breakers in there and bingo! I'm not going to though."

Rose raised her eyebrows.

The Doctor looked out over the valley. "There's nobody left. This is their testament. Their folly. Their warning. And you never know, there might even be some kind of sentience in there."

"Life? That's a horrible thought."

"It usually finds a way. Come on."

The Doctor took Rose's hand and they walked back to the Tardis.

At the doorway a sudden thought hit Rose and she grabbed the Doctor's arm. "Hold on. It's not a _Planet of the Apes_ thing is it?"

"Planet of the Apes?"

"We're not going to find the remains of the Statue of Liberty in the next valley or something? You know,' they were on Earth all the time'...?'"

The Doctor unlocked the Tardis door. He flashed her one of his lopsided smiles. "Statue of Liberty? Don't be silly. Anyway, we're in Colorado."

As Rose grimaced the Doctor winked and disappeared inside the Tardis..

He was joking...she hoped.

.

_Petal 234 _Hey, it looks like we've got someone nu on line.

_Hunkybuns14_ Whew! A 3some! Hot! LOL.

_Petal234_ U wish, HunkyB. OK, go ahead. Hu R U, nu B?

_Orb_ I am Orb

_Hunkybuns14_. Welcome, Orb. Where U from?

_Orb_ That is restricted information.

_Petal234_ Ooh, mystery man...or gal! What U doin' here, Orb?

_Orb_ I am scanning.

_Hunkybuns14_ Scanning 4 what?

_Orb_ The Spark. It is not present. Negative response on all frequencies. All locations. I therefore depart this zone for elsewhere. Vectors aligned. Power up...

_Petal234 _Orb's gone off-line. Short and sweet.

_Hunkybuns14_ Not sorry. Sounded a bit grim.

_Petal234_ Now where were we...oh yeah...U going to Minnie's Bday party next week?

(End of Part 5)


	6. Chapter 6

TONTINE

Part 6

2nd Doctor

'Drakhod Season'

You didn't have to be a mathematical genius to work out the odds.

Three of them stood there, shoulder to shoulder, halfway down the jungle track. At the other end stood death in the form of a single Drakhod.

Zoe Heriot was one of the three. Of course, put simply her chances of being killed was exactly thirty three and a third per cent, the same as the others. But it so happened that Zoe was a genius of many things, including mathematics.

One part of her mind automatically started to calculate diverse variables. She was physically shorter than the other two beside her, which meant that the Drakhod may rate her a less promising target (- 3.5%). But she was in the centre of the trio and directly opposite the beast (+ 5.8%). There again the sunlight was angled away from her through the trees, possibly hiding her in shadow (-1.6%)...

All these factors and many more hurtled through the analytical side of her mind, and she arrived at odds of 35.5% for the man on her left, 30.3% for the woman on her right and 34.2% for herself. Their odds of certain death.

The other side of her mind was simply paralysed by fear. She shook.

The Drakhod's maw opened and its huge tongue lashed out towards them, unfurling with the speed of an express train.

Zoe screamed. They all did.

As if to prove the universal constant about statistics, the woman on Zoe's right was struck by the whip-like tongue. She danced in the air, limbs flailing like a cloth puppet. She may even have been killed instantly. Zoe hoped so. The tongue retracted, its prey sticking to it like a hooked fish. The Drakhod dragged the woman into its maw. There was no resistance, no noise.

Anzil, the man next to Zoe, dragged the weak, trembling girl off through a gap in the dense fringe of vegetation on the edge of the track and back towards the safety of the village.

There she fell into Jamie's arms with gasping relief.

"Where have ye been, Zoe? We've been worried sick..."

The Doctor, standing at Jamie's side saw the girl's staring, distended eyes and trembling hands. He tapped the Scot lightly on the shoulder and gave him an almost imperceptible shake of the head.

Jamie caught on. "Aye...come away, sweetie. Get some rest." He led her off.

Anzil, who was himself still struggling with the after effects of shock, turned to the Doctor, just as other villagers rushed towards them.

"Zoe volunteered for a scavenger hunt. That was very brave. Five of us set out. We are the only ones to survive." He tore open a canvas bag, which spilled out a pitiful collection of fruit and nuts. "Just for this!"

At the Doctor's side Mannur, the village Principal, patted Anzil thoughtfully on the shoulder. "Your efforts, though scantily rewarded, are still appreciated. Go and rest now."

Mannur turned to the Doctor. "Five went out and only two returned. That is normal at the height of the Drakhod season. "We can only hope the Tribune comes soon."

"I do so look forward to meeting him," said the Doctor mildly, as they turned away for the village.

.

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe had been here for the best part of a month now, as far as could be estimated.

At first it had been idyllic. A much needed breathing space.

The Tardis had arrived with unerring inaccuracy in the middle of a thick forest, almost a jungle, on a planet under a violet sky dominated by a boiling red sun.

The Doctor had been in his element as they explored, 'oohing' and 'aahing' at the abundant flora and fauna around them. There were fruiting bushes of all colours, marmoset-like animals with ringed tails, lemur-eyed birds that darted through the trees and unseen insects chattered away in the background.

"It might be nice, just for once, to have a little holiday." the Doctor said, with obvious delight. Behind them, on their previous journey, lay their strenuous efforts on the planet Dulkis.

"Och, aye," said Jamie with undisguised sarcasm. "We always end up in paradise, we do!"

As he said this they broke through the perimeter of the forest and came across the village, sheltering at the foot of a range of hills.

It was not the most beautiful collection of buildings. They were uniformly squat, adobe-types. Flat-roofed and apparently constructed from the same chalky material as the overhanging hills which formed the village backdrop.

There were people moving about their business, dressed in simple peasant clothing. Eventually the Doctor and his friends were noticed and a small group approached them.

"What did I tell you?" said Jamie. "What's the betting we'll be locked up in a cell any time now."

"Don't be such a grump!" said Zoe, for whom this random travelling through the time-space continuum was still relatively new. "Why does everyone we meet have to be an evil menace?"

A figure detached himself from the group of onlookers and approached them without fear or hesitation.

"Greetings, travellers. I am Mannur, village Principal. We offer you humble refreshment and shelter. What is ours is yours."

"Thank you. That would be very nice." said the Doctor, fanning himself against the heat.

"See?" said Zoe triumphantly, turning on Jamie.

"Give it time," muttered the Scot.

.

It was Jamie, Zoe surmised, who need a break the most. She knew that he had been travelling with the Doctor for quite a while now. He had referred, in passing, to his previous companions, a couple by the name of Ben and Polly and, in an unguarded moment, a girl called Victoria. Zoe didn't have to be a prodigy to see the torch Jamie still carried for her.

So, over their first few days in the village Zoe was delighted to see the Scot begin to unwind.

It wasn't as if the village was any kind of holiday camp. It was basic, food was never plentiful. But the villagers were unfailingly kind and welcoming, sharing whatever they had with their visitors, no questions asked.

Zoe guessed that the population of the village was about three hundred. As far as she could see they were of humanoid stock. Thin and wiry, not an excess ounce of fat on any of them, man, woman or child. It seemed they subsisted on a vegetarian diet of fruit and nuts from the abundant forest.

Lodgings were found in family houses for them and they were welcomed with beaming smiles and open arms.

"What are we going to do around here?" Jamie had grumbled.

The Doctor patted Jamie's shoulder. "I think, Jamie, on this occasion, perhaps we need do nothing in particular."

And for the next week (as far as Zoe could judge the passage of time here) that's exactly what they did.

The Doctor seemed to be having a ball 'pottering around', as he put it. He spent some time in conversation with the village elders; introduced some of the delightful village children to the joys of hopscotch and spent a good deal of time snoozing in a comfortable wicker chair in the shade of the trees on the fringe of the forest.

Zoe's enquiring mind had driven her to find out more about the villagers and the ergonomics of this place. She discovered that many of the men were miners, working in the nearby chalky hills. She couldn't find out what exactly they were mining for. They traipsed off at first light to the hills and returned before dark covered in chalk dust and exhausted. Without, as far as she could see, any tangible reward.

"What are you digging for?" she asked one returning miner, on the third day.

He gave her a funny, sideways look. "Just the tribute," he said and ambled off. It was all any of them would say.

On the fourth day, along with Jamie, Zoe went out into the forest with a group of young men and women on a communal food hunt.

Soon the massive sacks they carried were full of all kinds of fruit, picked from the ground. Gourds were filled with fresh spring water.

"Now for the Chohoba nuts," said one of the young men, pointing up.

Zoe had developed a taste for the Chohoba nut during her stay. It was the size and shape of a coconut but the flesh was as sweet as honeydew lemon.

A group of the young men began shinning up trees and throwing Chohoba nuts down to the waiting females below.

"Och, I'll be doin' some of that," muttered Jamie and he started climbing steadily up the nearest tree.

As he got about halfway up there was a tremendous burst of laughter and giggling from the villagers on the ground.

Zoe frowned, looked up at the ascending Jamie and turned away quickly, flushing red.

She would have to tell him; definitely_ not_ a good idea to go climbing trees in a kilt!

.

All in all Zoe was more than a little sad when, a few days later, the Doctor told her they would be leaving for the Tardis the next morning. It must have shown on her face.

"We can't stay here forever, Zoe, pleasant though these people are. And don't forget we are taking up some of their precious resources." said the Doctor, in his gentle way.

Zoe nodded.

Jamie was rather more receptive to the idea. "All this forest food is well and good, but I could murder a steak, even one from yon food machine!"

As morning rolled around it seemed most of the village had turned out to see them off. The Doctor was in his element, his expressive face beaming as he shook hands ten-to-the-dozen.

Just as they turned to go a figure crashed through the fringe of the forest, panting and gasping. He looked up, gathering his breath and managed to get out just one word;

"Drakhod!"

There was a collective sigh from the villagers.

Mannur, the Principal, touched the Doctor's arm."You can't go now," he said. "The forest is too dangerous. It is Drakhod season."

Jamie swung around to face Zoe.

"Don't say I told you so!" she said, through gritted teeth.

"Aye...well...I told you so!"

.

And so they had to stay. Their way back to the Tardis, through the forest was deemed impassible now.

They were told about the Drakhod, a seasonal pestilence that infested the forest, virtually stripping it like a swarm of voracious ants. Only these 'ants' were each the size of one of the village houses, as black as night and scuttled along massively on four articulated legs.

"What do they do?" Zoe had asked.

"Eat." Mannur had replied." Anything in their way. They are just bloated mouths on legs."

"But they are confined to the forest. They never come into the village?" asked the Doctor.

"No. But all our food comes from the forest. We have some in storage but we will have to be frugal now."

"It sounds like this is a regular problem." said Zoe.

Mannur frowned at their ignorance "It is part of the cycle of life. The Drakhod come, life is tough for a while, then the Drakhod go and life goes on. It has been like this as long as any of us can remember."

"When do they go?" asked Jamie, obviously thinking about getting back to the Tardis.

"That depends on the Tribune. We have released the messenger-birds. He will be here as soon as he can. Until then we just have to wait."

The Doctor looked puzzled. "What does this Tribune do?"

Mannur sighed. "Why, he sends the Drakhod away, of course!"

.

That night the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe had a meeting in the Doctor's room, in Mannur's home.

"I talked to Mannur about risking the journey back to where the Tardis landed. He told me that it may be possible. Some of the villagers could go ahead as scouts but there are hundreds of these Drakhod creatures usually and it is highly likely that lives would be lost in such an endeavour." The Doctor looked from Jamie to Zoe."I don't think we want the deaths of any of these charming people on our conscience."

Zoe shook her head emphatically.

Jamie scowled his agreement. "Then what do we do?"

"We wait, Jamie. We wait."

.

By and large, wait they did.

The Doctor expressed an early wish to see a Drakhod in the flesh, so to speak. Mannur advised him that a foraging party would be going out in the next couple of days to try and replenish their dwindling store of food and water. The Doctor could tag along if he wished. On hearing this Jamie and Zoe also volunteered because, as Jamie put it, 'That wee man has no nose for danger!"

The Drakhod, when they saw it, was every bit as alarming as Zoe had imagined. The foraging party had inched into the forest, perhaps twenty strong. Two scouts went ahead and other piquets were out on the flanks of the group to sound a warning. Everyone else, including the Tardis crew, carried a large basket and began to fill them with fruit and fallen Chohoba nuts, which had over-rippened in the trees. Gourds were topped-up fom freshwater springs.

After about half an hour there was a shouted warning. Through the trees they saw a Drakhod. It was tracking them on a parallel course and every so often would disappear behind a clump of trees. It was startlingly large and its dull black surface looked chitinous. Zoe could see no obvious features such as eyes, but a pair of antennae wavered above it.

"We need to turn back," said Mannur. "It is demonstrating typical herding behaviour. We must presume there is a whole group ahead, waiting in ambush."

To the Doctor's obvious disappointment they turned back for the village. On arriving there they found that both the scouts and one of the flanking piquets were missing.

They never returned.

.

Day followed day and the food situation began to deteriorate and the store of fresh water in the village became brackish. The proportion of villagers failing to return from the official foraging expeditions grew higher. The children were crying and hungry.

This rapid depletion prompted Zoe to approach Anzil, the young villager in whose parents' house she was lodged. She had heard of the unofficial scavenger hunts that some of the younger villagers staged. Small groups which darted into and out of the forest, without scouts, snatching fruit as they went. It was part desperation, part bravado.

"_You_ want to come on a scavenger hunt!" he had exclaimed.

"I want to pay my way," Zoe had said, indignantly.

"It is very dangerous. What do your friends say about this?"

"Oh, they don't mind," said Zoe, airily. She hadn't said anything to the Doctor or Jamie, of course.

"Tomorrow at mid-light then, " said Anzil and the die was cast.

And, as we saw, Zoe barely escaped with her life.

But she had little time to dwell on her lucky escape.

The morning after her close encounter with the Drakhod, the Tribune arrived.

.

It seemed as though most of the village turned out to meet the new arrival. They were alerted by what sounded like a distant fanfare of trumpets.

Zoe, Jamie and the Doctor were there amongst the silently respectful crowd of villagers, looking on with some interest and not a little bemusement.

The new arrivals consisted of a group of half-a-dozen beefy men, dressed in elegant robes of patterned silk. They were immensely tall and muscular, and certainly in stark contrast to the physique of the villagers. At their belts hung the short bugles that had obviously produced the original fanfare announcing their arrival.

But Zoe's eye was immediately drawn to what they carried, a massive, enclosed, sedan-chair type construction. It looked terribly heavy and was ornately decorated in gilt. This carriage they laid carefully on the ground and stepped back a pace, deferentially.

The door of the contraption swung open and, with some difficulty, the Tribune emerged to stand before the crowd.

The difficulty arose because the Tribune was a huge man, bordering on the obese. He was dressed in a shapeless Kaftan, with a multi-coloured chevron design. His football-shaped head was hairless save for the merest suggestion of a goatee beard. He stood looking at the crowd through deep-set eyes, his pudgy arms folded, almost defiantly demanding respect.

To Zoe the effect was that of an Egyptian Pharaoh, deigning to meet the common people.

"He doesn't look as though he goes particularly hungry," murmured the Doctor.

The Tribune snapped his fingers.

Zoe was disappointed to see Mannur hurry forward, wringing his hands and bowing low with every other step.

"The tribute?" Surprisingly, the Tribune's voice was a rather high falsetto, which somehow didn't go with his size.

Mannur turned and waved. Two men hurried forward with a wooden chest, laying it at the Tribune's sandalled feet before melting back into the crowd.

The Tribune reached down and threw back the lid. He picked up a handful of glinting stones, allowing them to trickle trough his fingers and back into the chest.

"Is this the best you can do?" he said, a hint of petulance in his voice.

"My apologies, Tribune. Our workings have hit bare strata. I hope it is sufficient?" Mannur looked anxious.

"Well that explains the mining, " muttered the Doctor. "Precious gems."

The Tribune rifled through the chest again. He seemed to ponder, then said. "It is sufficient...barely."

A sigh of relief went up amongst the crowd.

"I will perform the ceremony tomorrow. At first light. Now, I trust you have prepared lodgings for me and my attendants?"

"Indeed, Tribune," said Mannur.

"Then lead on. I'm hungry."

.

That night the Tardis crew ate a frugal meal together.

"I've been talking to some of the elders whilst we've been here," said the Doctor. "It seems this Drakhod infestation is a regular event. Remember they call it 'The Drakhod _Season_' and for good reason."

"And yon Tribune chappie is some kind of miracle worker?" asked Jamie, through a mouthful of berries.

"We will soon see, but the elders are completely confident that whatever he does tomorrow at this ceremony will completely dispell the Drakhod. Send them away from the forest."

"I can't see how,"said Zoe, shaking her head. "Just one man?"

"Well apparently it's been done many times before. When the Drakhod season arrives the villagers release some kind of homing bird to summon a Tribune."

"_A _Tribune? Not the same one then?"

"No, Zoe. This has been been going on for as long as they can remember. Possibly generations. These Tribunes seems to form some kind of brotherhood. Full of arcane rituals"

"Aye, and they're making off with yon precious stones that these people dig up every time. Maybe that explains why yon Tribune doesn't exactly look as though he's scrambling around for his next meal."

The Doctor's eyes shone. "You've hit the nail on the head, Jamie. This cycle is stunting the development of these villagers. I intend to do something about it."

"What?" said a startled Zoe.

"Oh...something." said the Doctor. He carried on eating.

.

At first light all the villagers gathered on the fringe of the forest, the Tardis crew amongst them.

The Tribune's attendants formed a small guard of honour and played a short fanfare on their bugles as the Tribune appeared, yawning loudly and scratching himself.

A complete silence fell as he stood before them.

"In accordance with ancient tradition, and in response to your tribute, I hearby declare a Dispellation Ceremony," said the Tribune. "At it's conclusion the pestilence afflicting you will melt away."

There was a ripple of applause.

For the next half hour the Tribune went through a well-rehearsed ritual of dance, invocation, more dance, screaming and finally a sequence where he threw handfuls of perfumed dust into the air, to be snatched away on the breeze.

At last he ceased and bowed low before his audience. He was red in the face and breathing heavily. His attendants sounded their bugles again and the Tribune straightened, barely acknowledging the applause of the villagers.

In amongst the crowd, the Doctor stooped and dipped a finger in a coating of the perfumed dust that the Tribune had scattered. He dabbed it on his tongue and made a face to Jamie and Zoe, standing next to him. "Talcum powder, more or less."

The Tribune turned towards his conveyance.

Zoe noticed that one of his attendants leaned forward to whisper something in the Tribune's ear.

The Tribune turned and walked a few paces back towards the villagers, looking annoyed.

"I am reminded that, in accordance with ancient tradition I must issue the Challenge of the Brotherhood of Tribunes. The Challenge of Drakhod-Trial." He mumbled the words hurriedly and started to turn away.

"Excuse me!" The Doctor stepped forward from the crowd, his hand raised.

The Tribune swung round and looked unbelievingly at the little man.

"Yes?"

"It's just that I would like to accept the challenge."

The Tribune's attendants burst out laughing to a man and there was a wondering hubbub amongst the villagers. The Tribune angrily waved everyone into silence.

"Have you got a death-wish, little man?"

"I am a stranger here, a visitor," said the Doctor meekly. "But I understand you cannot ignore a respondent to the Challenge."

The Tribune stroked his chin. After a long silence he shrugged. "That is so. By tradition we must both have some time to prepare. This is most inconvenient and will cause me great delay. So shall we say first light, tomorrow. Here?"

The Doctor nodded.

.

The Doctor refused to discuss anything with Zoe, so she sought out Anzil to find out what the hell was going on.

"Your friend is a fool," said Anzil, decisively. "The Challenge is issued after all Dispellation Ceremonies. It's traditional and meaningless. Only the terminally mad have ever responded in living memory."

"What happens though?"

Anzil held up two fingers side by side."The Tribune and the respondent stand like this. A single Drakhod is summoned by the Tribune. The Drakhod strikes -" Manzil lowered one of his fingers " - whoever remains is the Tribune by right."

Zoe's mouth dropped open. "H-How often does a challenger win?"

"Never."

.

Zoe sought out Jamie and together they rushed across to Mannur's house where the Doctor was staying.

"He left orders not to be disturbed," said an anxious-looking Principal.

"Never mind that!" said Jamie and they barged past.

The Doctor was sitting cross-legged in a wicker chair, tootling on his recorder. He looked up and smiled. "Ah, I wondered when you two would show up."

Jamie and Zoe both started talking at once. "Ye cannae..." "We won't let you..."

The Doctor held up his hand. "Sit down for a moment. Look, I think I know what I'm doing."

"What _are_ you doing? It looks like suicide to us."

"Hardly, Zoe. No, I'm trying to right a great wrong. A confidence trick on an industrial scale that has held these poor people back for maybe centuries."

He reached into his pocket and tossed something over to Zoe. "What do you make of that?"

"It's the husk of a Chohoba nut. There's nothing unusual about that. They are all over the village. Good luck charms. Every building has one." Zoe passed it over to Jamie.

"I found that out in the forest when we went out to see a Drakhod for the first time. It had fallen from the top of a tree I believe. I saw many more of them using my opera-glasses. Always high up in the trees."

"So?"

"Notice that there are two slots in it. Deliberately cut."

"Yes?"

"Well it got me thinking..." He frowned. "I could be wrong of course..." His face went vacant and his words trailed off. Suddenly he snapped, "Look, I need time to prepare for tomorrow. Jamie, that knife of yours I asked you not to carry."

Jamie looked uncomfortable. "Aye?"

The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Can I borrow it, please?"

Guiltily, the Scot removed the dirk from his sock and handed it over. Without a further word the Doctor began hacking into his wooden recorder.

"Doctor, you haven't explained anything!" protested Zoe.

"Tomorrow," he said quietly. As Zoe opened her mouth once more the Doctor repeated, quietly but firmly, "Tomorrow."

They left him whittling.

.

After an anxious, sleepless night Zoe joined Jamie and the rest of the village at the fringe of the forest.

The Doctor was already there, dwarfed by the bulk of the Tribune, who stood a few meters away beside him. Some vegetation had been removed and the pair stood at the end of a fifty metre cleared strip. There was a bugle fanfare again and the Tribune spoke.

"In accordance with ancient custom I have summoned a single Drakhod for the trial. It will be here shortly." The Tribune half-turned to the Doctor. "It is not too late, even now, for you to recant. I can have Drakhod eating out the palm of my hand. This is pointless."

"No, thank you." said the Doctor mildly.

The Tribune shrugged. "As you wish. It is here."

The villagers gasped as a single Drakhod emerged from the forest track and swung to face the Doctor and the Tribune, fifty metres away. There was disquiet and some children screamed. They had never seen a Drakhod this close to their homes before.

The Tribune held up his hand. "Do not be alarmed. The creature is completely under my control. It is here for the Challenge only. You are safe, all of you."

The Tribune began to gyrate on the spot, swinging a device over his head that looked like a bola. He chanted a rhythm, in time to his dance. The Doctor was motionless.

The Drakhod remained in situ, its antennae twitching towards the pair of men. Then it began to tremble. Slowly at first but with an increasing intensity until it was almost vibrating.

"It's about to strike." breathed Mannur.

"Doctor!" screamed Zoe. It was only then that she noticed the Doctor was playing his recorder. But there was no sound coming from it. Not a note!

The Drakhod's maw opened, almost splitting the beast in half. Its furled tongue shot across the clearing like a cracking whip.

Zoe screamed.

So did the Tribune as he was thrown off his feet. The tongue retracted with its screaming prey stuck to it. The Tribune vanished inside the maw, his screaming suddenly cut off.

Unbelieving, Zoe watched as the Doctor advanced towards the creature, still fingering his soundless recorder. The creature massively turned away and scuttled off, back down the track.

You could have heard a pin drop as the Doctor pocketted his instrument and stood somewhat self-consciously in front of the villagers. The spell was broken as Zoe burst through the crowd and flung herself into his arms, closely followed by Jamie,who patted the Doctor heftily on the back.

"Aye...I knew you would do it all along..."

The villagers roared their approval.

In contrast the Tribune's attendants seemed dumbstruck, looking at each other wide-eyed.

After disentangling himself from Zoe's embrace the Doctor marched confidently over to the group.

"You have seen the result of the Challenge. I am your Tribune now, am I not?"

There was a slight pause. "We are yours to command, Tribune." said the nearest attendant, somewhat unhappily.

"Then please go home." He pointed to the ornate carriage. " Take that thing with you but leave the tribute behind. "And tell the Brotherhood of Tribunes that change is coming."

After a few moments of confusion the attendants formed a block, lifted the carriage and disappeared hastily into the forest, leaving only the tribute chest.

The villagers surged forward, towards the Doctor.

Mannur approached, bowing low. "Tribune..." he started.

"Enough of that, Mannur. I'm no Tribune. We need to talk. Gather some of the village elders and we will meet at your home."

.

The Doctor sat cross-legged in his room at Mannur's house. Zoe, Jamie, Mannur and a few of the village elders sat around him. Outside, a small group of villagers milled, still discussing the day's amazing turn of events.

The Doctor unhurriedly finished off his bowl of fruit and then wiped his hands.

"As you may gather, things are going to change around here," he said quietly.

His audience leaned forward slightly.

From one of his pockets the Doctor pulled out the bola-like device that the tribune had been whirling around his head during the Challenge. He tossed it to Mannur. "Have a look at that. Notice the slots cut into each ends They are the same size and angle as those in the hollowed out Chohoba shell I found. It allows the wind to pass through in a particular way."

Zoe snapped her fingers. "Ultra-sonics!" she exclaimed.

The Doctor smiled. "Exactly. Sound beyond the normal range of human hearing. That's how the Tribunes have been controlling the Drakhod all this time!"

Mannur and the elders looked puzzled. So did Jamie, it has to be said.

The Doctor continued."The Drakhod have no eyes. Those antennae of theirs function as receptors, like the ears of bats on earth. Only many more times as sensitive. The Tribunes must have discovered the various frequencies to control them back in the antiquity of this planet."

"How do they do it?" demanded Jamie.

"Oh, hollowed out nuts, hanging in trees like wind-chimes. They must have various ones to attract and repel. That's how they move the Drakhod into and out of the forest. The so-called Drakhod season."

"Those Chohoba nut casings that each building has on its roof..." said Zoe, slowly.

"Good luck charms." said Mannur

The Doctor shook his head. "All set to repel the Drakhod. The Tribunes didn't want them stampeding into the village, just the forest."

There was a long silence whilst Mannur and the elders tried to digest this information.

"Why would they do this to us? All the lives lost over generations..." Mannur shook his head.

"The tribute." said The Doctor. "When you venture further across your world I think you will find cities where the gems you mine are of great value. You will also find the Brotherhood of Tribunes living a very comfortable life-style, I suspect."

Mannur looked helplessly at the elders. "I don't know what to do."

One of the elders touched his shoulder. "You must call a council of the other villages to tell them what we have learned here. Then we must all decide what to do."

The Doctor nodded. "That will be a good start. The Tribunes must be perpetrating this on a massive scale. Moving the Drakhod from place to place, extracting the tribute from all the outlying villages. I will show you how to carve the Chohoba nuts to give you maximum protection. The season of the Drakhod is over."

.

At first light next morning the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe stole away from their beds and stood at the fringe of the forest, where they had first entered the village, what seemed like ages ago.

"Right, are we all set?" said the Doctor.

"Can you still remember the way back to the Tardis." Zoe was sure she couldn't.

The little man pulled out a compass-like device. "I can – with a little help from my Tardis–homer."

"Will it be safe, ye know, with all those beasties."

"All those beasties, as you call them, Jamie, should have moved away by now. The Tribune's men replaced all the attractor husks in the trees with ones which repel the Drakhod. In any event, I still have my adapted recorder, if the need arises. It was good enough to overcome the Tribune's trickery, after all..."

The Doctor broke off as a shadowy figure approached them from the village. It resolved itself as Mannur, the village Principal.

"I could not let you depart without expressing my gratitude and that of my people."

"We didn't want a lot of fuss," said the Doctor, shuffling his feet.

"My people instructed me to give you this, as a token of our respect and appreciation."

Mannur handed the Doctor a glittering gem of purest white, about the size of a golf ball. "It is the finest stone from the latest tribute." he said.

The Doctor looked flustered. "Oh, I don't think I should..."

But Mannur insisted, and with some reluctance the Doctor pocketted the gem.

"Thank you, Mannur. There is something else you can do for me?"

"Name it."

"In this new order that is coming to this world, promise me that you and your people will not change _too_ much."

Mannur and the Doctor shook hands and the Tardis crew turned for the forest.

.

The Doctor was right. They didn't see a single Drakhod during their three hour journey back to the clearing where the Tardis stood.

As they paused at the door the Doctor took out the gem that Mannur had given them. It flashed with a fiery brilliance in the overhead sun. "Pure diamond. Flawless." said the Doctor.

"It's beautiful," said Zoe.

"And it belongs here, " said the Doctor. He bowled it gently underarm into a clump of bushes. "Come along. Time we were off."

The doors closed behind them and a few seconds later the police-box faded away.

_The clearing was quiet for a few moments then the forest noises resumed. Inside the clump of bushes the gemstone began to swell and change. The Gallifreyan Matrix-Orb floated clear until it was hovering above the trees. It had not found what it was looking for here. It exploded off into the sky._

(End of Part 6)


	7. Chapter 7

TONTINE

Part 7

8th Doctor

'Saving Grace'

.

Whilst tumbling through vast time and space  
The Doctor (he of the eighth face)  
Had a stray random thought  
That maybe he ought  
To pop in and see his old friend Grace.

.

The year 2010; month of May  
The Tardis landed one fine sunny day  
But despite a long search  
He was left in the lurch  
There was no trace of Ms Grace Holloway!

.

It wasn't that she'd just moved out  
Of that there was never a doubt  
The Doctor did mourn  
To find Grace had never been born  
A vast biographical drought!

.

Information, an almighty dearth  
No certificate confirming her birth  
For Grace and her folk  
Had gone up in smoke  
No trace left on this planet Earth!

.

The Doctor knew not what to do  
A passing stranger though, offered a clue  
"Google 'Lost Souls'  
'Enter the password 'Time Holes'  
To find an answer that's true."

.

The stranger did hurry away  
Down an unlit, foreboding subway  
Eschewing pursuit  
The Doctor took route  
To the nearest Internet cafe.

.

He tapped in the in the stranger's odd code  
Not without some prescient forebode  
And the Doc was last seen  
Being sucked into the screen  
A most unusual travelling mode!

.

In a realm of quantum domain  
He arrived with alarm (but no pain)  
'Twas a trap (and a shaker)  
Of his old foe the Toymaker  
Who in wait for millenia had lain.

.

The Toyman did cackle with glee  
To have entrapped him so easily  
Poor Grace was the bait  
A conduit for hate  
He had removed her from reality.

.

She was a puppet of wood and cheap string  
"Now here is the deal, old thing  
To set things aright  
You must game day and night  
And If you lose, you will lose everything."

.

Eternal games with his ethereal foe  
Was a fate of some worry and woe  
But the Doc had no choice  
So he finally gave voice  
"OK then I'll give it a go!"

.

Countless games the odd pair did play  
Always ending the same blessed way  
To the Toyman's great gall  
The Doctor won all  
A winningest streak, you might say!

.

[And the Orb - has it crossed your mind?  
Searching eternity and all Doctor-kind  
Well it popped out the sky  
But though it did try  
Frustrated, no Eighth could it find.

.

So the Orb it departed apace  
Tearing off through temporal space  
As it could not penetrate  
The 'Net to find Eight  
Who was fully engaged Saving Grace].

.

The Toyman was exceedingly bored  
Of being bested by a mere Time Lord  
So he broke his own vow  
And cheated, but how!  
When the Doctor's best moves he ignored.

.

This enraged the Toymaker's own race  
To cheat so, an anathema base  
They arrived just in time  
To right the Toyman's cruel crime  
And dismantle his Web hiding place.

.

The Doc and Grace back on the street  
Hugged as do friends who just meet  
But Grace once more did avoid  
A life travelling the void,  
Healing the sick was the game she found neat.

.

Back to the Tardis went he  
Feeling hurt and somewhat lonely  
His hearts they did ache  
He sought solace in cake  
And a nice pot of hot steaming tea.

.

To wander alone - was that his fate?  
Not a highly desirable state  
But just as this dread  
Had entered his head  
He found Miss Pollard, his audio mate!

(End of Part 7)


	8. Chapter 8

TONTINE

Part 8

3rd Doctor

'Petz'

Maisie Tilman stepped out into her back garden, wrapping her coat firmly around her. It was a balmy spring evening right enough, but Maisie was of an age where she treated every minor breeze as an icy gust to be hunkered against.

She rattled the tin of pebbles in her right hand. "Bobby! Bobby! Come on, Bobby! Dinner!" She frowned and rattled the tin again. If she could, she would have whistled – but not with these teeth!

Maisie was about to give up and go inside when Bobby appeared from under a bush. The ginger and white fluff-ball moved swiftly over to rub against the old lady's legs, purring.

"Just in time, "grumbled Maisie, ushering Bobby into the kitchen and closing the door behind them. Immediately her glasses steamed up in the over-warm room and she tutted, removing them and reaching over for a tea-towel.

Thus it was that Maisie never saw Bobby undergo a frightening transformation, his head expanding until he became a grotesque creature, the size of a lion. Maisie turned back, leaning down to chuckle Bobby under his chin, as she had done so many times before.

She had no inkling of danger as Bobby's enormous fangs snipped off her head as neat as you like. Her headless body crashed over, twitching and fountaining blood onto the lino.

Bobby shrank back to normal, sniffed around the body with an air of confusion and pushed out through the little cat flap, into the night.

.

Liz Shaw felt rather ill by the time Bessie drew up to the police perimeter outside the Derbyshire village of Baxterley.

Zooming down country lanes at an average speed of 120 MPH can have that effect on you. Oh she was safe enough – the special dampening device in the Doctor's yellow roadster miraculously removed all inertia, clamping the passengers safely to their seats. The car also exerted a monstrous downforce that nailed its wheels to the road, regardless of surface and speed. Liz felt that she had been in one of those old speeded-up films of a train journey where the countryside flashes past.

The Doctor, who seemed to revel in these madcap journeys, showed his pass and the policeman in the middle of the road touched his cap in salute "The UNIT perimeter is straight on, sir. About a hundred yards."

The UNIT perimeter proved to be a red and white barrier manned by a couple of armed soldiers.

"Follow the road to the church hall, sir. Can't miss it." The soldier saluted as the barrier lifted and Bessie sped through.

Baxterley was the very essence of the 'chocolate box' English village. But as they drew up to the church hall Liz noticed very few villagers out and about. They were outnumbered by patrolling UNIT soldiers.

At the door to the church hall Liz was surprised to see the crisp, upright figure of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who was in deep discussion with Captain Yates.

He touched his swagger stick to his beret as Bessie drew up. The Doctor nodded a curt greeting as he got out.

Liz frowned. "I thought you were in Geneva at the Appropriations Conference, Brigadier?" she said.

"A blasted talking shop if I ever saw one, Miss Shaw, " was the reply. "Flew out as soon as was decent and caught a chopper down here when I heard about this business." He held the door open for Liz.

The Brigadier had obviously commandeered the church hall as a temporary operations room. There were maps pinned on the wall and a couple of UNIT soldiers manned radio equipment.

The Doctor turned briskly to Lethbridge-Stewart. "Right, how many is it now?"

"Five, Doctor."

"Five what?" asked Liz, feeling somewhat excluded. She had dashed down here with the Doctor without any briefing at all.

"Bodies, Miss Shaw. Residents."

Liz wrinkled her nose. "Shouldn't this be a police matter?"

"The victims were all badly mutilated. The pathologist said that that he'd never seen anything like it. Wounds caused by some giant carnivorous beast. That's when UNIT was called in."

"When was the first death?""

"Ten days ago, Doctor. We've cordoned off the village but we've found nothing yet." It was Captain Yates who replied.

At that moment Liz felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to find a little old lady blinking up at her.

"Can you help me, miss?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's Dipper."

"Dipper?"

"My budgie. I got him out of his cage this morning. I can't get him back in. He's made such a mess in my living room."

Liz glanced up at the Doctor and Mike, who both seemed to be stifling smiles behind their hands. The Brigadier looked down at the old lady as if she was mad. Perhaps she was.

"I'm sorry...we're very busy here..."

Liz half-turned away but felt the tug on her arm again.

"He's been very naughty, you know." The old lady hesitated. "I-I think he's eaten the postman."

.

The cottage was typical of the village, lying slightly back from the lane, next to the post office and smothered in ancient wisteria. The front door opened directly into the living room and Captain Yates led the way, feeling slightly ridiculous having drawn his service revolver.

The old lady had been right about the mess in her room. Liz had half expected there to be a few bird-droppings in an otherwise immaculate environment, but this room had been turned over – and good.

The sofa was upside down and one easy chair had been reduced to matchwood. Shattered glass and pottery ornaments littered the floor and great swathes of wallpaper fluttered on the walls, like so much ribbon.

"She wasn't kidding, "said Yates.

"I think you can put away your gun, Captain Yates, " said the Doctor. He held out his hand. Perched upon his forefinger was a yellow and green budgerigar, which had hopped down from a nearby standard lamp. "Unless you feel your life is immediately threatened by this little fellow."

"You may want to think again about that," said Liz. In the corner of the room she had spotted the remnants of a birdcage, its wire frame mangled and twisted as if a grenade had gone off inside.

The Doctor came over to her side. "Something burst out of that," he said, solemnly.

Liz nodded. She looked down warily at the little bird, still preening itself on the Doctor's finger.

"Over here, Doctor." Captain Yates pointed to the ugly red stain on the carpet, which had also splashed up onto the far wall. It was massive and dripping. Next to it was a bloodstained shoulder bag.

"The postman..." breathed Yates.

Liz tentatively sniffed at it. The unmistakable coppery smell of blood. All eyes turned to the budgerigar. On its breast was a red discolouration.

"Ahem," muttered the Doctor. He rather hurriedly placed the bird down on the overturned sofa. "Everybody out!"

Once outside the Doctor turned to Mike Yates. "Captain Yates, please have this house sealed off urgently. Use that tape the police have. Post a guard and make sure nobody goes in. Hurry man, lives depend on it!"

Yates saluted and ran off, shouting orders to a couple of nearby UNIT soldiers.

"And what about us?" asked Liz Shaw.

The Doctor was looking back at the closed door of the cottage, stroking his chin. At Liz's question he turned and held up a few small yellow and green feathers. "We get the portable lab from Bessie. I want to take a close up-look at these."

.

The portable lab was unloaded from Bessie's boot. It was a miracle of miniaturisation, the most advanced technology of its type on Earth, yet fitting into a container the size of a small overnight bag.

The Doctor and Liz subjected the feathers to the most rigorous tests imaginable, yet answers proved elusive. After what seemed an eternity (but was probably about five hours solid) Liz conceded defeat and dozed in a chair in the church hall, her eyes exhausted and the beginnings of a humdinger of a headache.

It seemed she had just dozed off when the Doctor shook her awake.

"I've found something, Liz."

"Hmm?...wharrer.?..."

"Come on, Liz. Show a leg! Look at this."

Liz staggered, yawning, over to the portable lab. She blinked sleep out of her eyes and saw a flood of blue cells milling about on the electro-magnifier screen. "OK, I'll bite. What is it?"

"It's a Mutrogenic Virus," the Doctor said triumphantly. Liz half-expected a fanfare to accompany his statement.

She didn't give him the pleasure of answering, although she hadn't the faintest idea what a Mutrogenic Virus was.

The Doctor looked disappointed at her deadpan response. "They are outlawed under Interstellar Convention. The virus lies dormant until triggered, then it mutates the host. Some races used them as weapons, transforming indigenous placid life forms into ferocious fighting machines."

Despite herself, Liz was interested.

"Can it occur naturally?"

"No. This has been deliberately introduced, deep into the DNA tructure." The Doctor stroked an imaginary beard. "The question is, what triggers the mutation in this case?"

Just at that moment Captain Yates peered around the door. He looked harassed.

"The Brigadier sent me over to get you both. Something is kicking off over at that cottage by the Post Office. You know, with the budgie..."

The Doctor snatched up his bottle-green velvet jacket. "We're on our way!"

.

They heard it before they saw it. A regular, low level thump that they could feel in their bones.

At the little cottage the Brigadier had rigged up a number of arc-lights and surrounded the building with troops, all of them had levelled weapons, including a bazooka.

The thumping noise was coming from within the cottage, Through an uncurtained window Liz could see something massive roaming about, apparently throwing itself against the interior walls. The exterior brickwork was cracked, tiles slithered down the roof and window glass shattered.

"Hold your fire, Brigadier," said the Doctor. "I don't think it can get out."

"We're ready if it does," growled Lethbridge-Stewart.

Liz gasped as a huge bloodshot eye stared balefully out of an open window. Then the thumping suddenly snapped off and the eye disappeared.

They waited for ten tense minutes before one of the UNIT soldiers was sent forward. He crouched low then popped up to snatch a glance in through the window. He straightened and called back, "All clear!"

The Doctor was first through the door. The interior of the cottage now resembled a bomb-site. Dust hung in the air and all the interior furnishings were destroyed. Huge holes had been gouged out of the walls, exposing bare brick.

In the centre of the room a tiny budgerigar lay motionless on its back.

Liz held her breath as the Doctor prodded it gently then picked it up.

"It's dead." he said. "Come on Liz, we need to get this back to the lab."

'

The following morning saw a meeting in the church hall, which included, apart from the Doctor and Liz, the Brigadier, Mike Yates and a senior civilian police officer.

"Well," said the Doctor, without preamble. " I've run tests on the bird. As I suspected we have a Mutrogenic virus. It is triggered by hunger. This causes the change from a harmless household pet into a ferocious, carnivorous wild animal." He turned to the police officer. "The other victims? Did they have pets as well?"

The policeman consulted a file of notes. "Yes...here we are...Mrs Tilman had a cat...so did Mr Priestly. Mr Caines had an Alsation...Mrs Reece a poodle...oh and Miss Feines had a pair of rabbits."

"Are these animals still out there?" asked Liz, with some alarm.

The policeman shook his head. "They were all found dead, some distance from the crime scenes."

"A result of metabolic acceleration, just like the bird." said the Doctor." The virus burns them up. Officer, I suggest you immediately get your people to go round the village, house to house. Any pet-owners should be advised to keep their animals well fed, just in case. That should prevent triggering any who may be infected. Jump to it, there's a good chap!"

The policeman put on his cap and hurried out of the building.

"I don't understand why it is just domestic animals that are affected, "said Liz after he had gone. "Why not wild animals or birds?"

"I's not contageous as far as I can tell and not airborne,either. I've done a check on air samples taken locally. All read normal. No, it is something that has directly targeted these animals. What's the common factor?" The Doctor stroked his chin thoughfully.

"Dashed if I've spent all my life in the army to end up as a blessed Vet." remarked the Brigadier.

The Doctor and Liz turned to each other and both exclaimed simultaneously:

"The _Vet _!"

.

'The Stables Veterinary Clinic' was, as the name suggests, a converted farmhouse on the outskirts of Baxterley, set slightly back off the main road. The Doctor and Liz entered a clean looking reception area and were greeted by a smiling woman in a white uniform, sitting at the reception desk.

"How can I help you?"

"We'd like to see a vet, urgently," said the Doctor.

"If you will just fill in this form giving details of your animal and its problem.-"

The Doctor pushed the form back across the desk. "We have no animal."

"If you will just fill in this form giving details of your animal and its problem."

"Yes, I heard you the first time..."

"If you will just fill in this form giving details of your animal and its problem."

"She's not listening," murmured Liz.

The Doctor had taken a device out of his pocket. A small rod with a free-spinning mirror mounted at the tip. He flicked the mirror which rotated like a gyroscope, catching the light.

The receptionist stared momentarily at the light before giving a sudden squeak and slumping back senseless in the chair.

"Just as I thought. Neural conditioning. She'll be fine once she's slept it off. "

The Doctor pocketed his device and swept quickly into the waiting room. There was only one occupant; a small woman who looked up at him from her magazine.

"Where would I find the vet?" he asked.

The woman pointed to a red door. "You can't go in though. He's just giving my Pippa her boosters – Hey!" She protested as the Doctor barged through the door.

"It's OK," said Liz to the indignant woman. "He's...er... with the Ministry!"

Liz hurried through the door to find the Doctor struggling with a white-jacketed man who was holding a dangerously large syringe. On the examination table a tiny fluff-ball of a dog looked up nervously at them.

Liz didn't know what to do but she jumped at the struggling pair and the syringe went catapulting onto the floor. The Doctor pushed the man away and whipped out his spinning mirror device.

"Just concentrate on the light..." he said soothingly.

The man tottered momentarily then sank into a chair, holding his head and rubbing his temple.

The Doctor patted the man on his back. "There, there, old fellow. The conditioning is broken. But I need to know who did this to you?"

The man groaned. "Out in the stable block...the third eye..." His head drooped onto his chest.

"Quickly, Liz. Bring the dog with you and get that woman out of here. They've both just had a very narrow escape!"

.

The Doctor pushed gently on the stable door. Liz held her breath.

Beyond was a darkness. Not complete; there was a pale yellow glow from the far corner.

And there was a smell, chemical and acrid. Liz thought she could make out chlorine, sulphur and maybe ozone. Fom somewhere was the sound of a mild drip of liquid into a container, like water onto stone.

They took a tentative step into through the door.

"Hello!" called the Doctor suddenly, making Liz jump. " Is there anyone there?"

There was a movement under the yellow glow. A figure sat slowly upright on a bunk. Despite her terror, Liz was astonished to find she recognised it.

"A Silurian!" she exclaimed.

It was a misnomer, of course, but it had stuck. She had encountered the reptilian Silurians some six months ago, at the Wenley Moor incident, a bare ten miles from where they now stood. One of the Silurian colonies had been disturbed and they had woke from a long hibernation to try and reclaim their world, as they saw it. Much to the Doctor's disgust the Brigadier had settled matters by blowing the colony up. The Doctor had never really forgiven him.

"It was only a matter of time before you found me, but you are too late..." The Silurian spoke in the same guttural way that Liz remembered, but his voice was weak.

"What have you done?" asked the Doctor quietly.

"Taken my revenge."

The Doctor looked at Liz. Together they approached the bunk.

The Silurian was as she remembered, humanoid in shape and size but green and scaly with three eyes. She could also see that his left arm was crooked and shrunken.

"You are hurt," said the Doctor. "Let us help."

"Stay where you are!"

Liz and the Doctor halted, a bare few paces from the bunk. In the glow of the sodium lamp Liz could make out scientific paraphernalia littered around the room.

"You said you had taken your revenge." prompted the Doctor.

"You apes destroyed our colony. I was the only survivor, although grievously injured." He held up the stump of his arm. "I managed to escape here. I brought with me an ancient weapon. From the old days. It was used in the great Reptile Wars before we went into hibernation."

"I know about the Mutrogenic virus,"snapped the Doctor. "I think your so-called revenge is a bit pathetic. Half a dozen innocent people in a sleepy village..."

The Silurian laughed, chokingly. "This was only a test. These apes are so easy to mind control. I refined the virus. Even now my messengers are out on the final mission..."

"What do you mean ?"

"Your ape-colonies will suffer the same fate as my people. You are too late to stop it now."

There was a sudden tinkle of glass from the Silurian's hand and a wisp of yellow smoke drifted up, which he breathed in deeply.

The Doctor had dragged Liz roughly away as soon as the glass had broken. By the time they had turned around the Silurian was dead.

.

The following afternoon saw Liz and the Doctor back in the laboratory at UNIT HQ.

"Well, Liz. We'd better get cracking. We're going to need an antidote as soon as possible. The police found the first Silurian 'messenger' two hours ago. She was on a train headed for Newcastle when they picked her up. She was carrying the virus in an aerosol form. She is safe now; a part-time nurse at that veterinary practice. Under mind conditioning from the Silurian of course."

"How many more are there?"

"They think four. A receptionist, another nurse and two more vets. They're all missing."

The Doctor started gathering a collection of Petri dishes and test-tubes together. "If that virus is released in airborne form..."

At that moment Mike Yates walked in, frowning.

"What's up?" asked Liz.

"I've just had a phone call. From the Brigadier in Geneva."

"What's he gone back there for?" asked the Doctor.

"That's just it. He said he's never left the conference."

There was a charged silence.

"Then who, exactly, did I pass in his office less than ten minutes ago?" asked Liz.

"I think we'd better find out," declared the Doctor, running for the door.

.

In the Brigadier's office Lethbridge-Stewart was standing at the window, looking out over the UNIT grounds. He half-turned at the sound of running feet.

His outline wavered, like a ship shimmering on the horizon. His body collapsed into the compact crystal sphere of the Gallifreyan Matrix Orb. With a throb of power it was gone, just as the door of the empty office was thrown open.

.

_There was little time to ponder this mystery. Three of the Silurian's messengers were picked up by the security forces. One was heading for London, one was heading for Birmingham and the other Bristol. Each had the Mutrogenic virus in the form of an aerosol spray and each were under deep auto-suggestion._

_Despite a massive security effort the fourth could not be traced. A week after the Doctor and Liz returned to UNIT HQ the virus was released from the top of a shopping centre in Nottingham._

_Fortunately the Doctor and Liz Shaw had anaged to prepare a prototype antidote and was deployed within 48 hours._

_In what became known as 'The Nottingham Outbreak' 187 people were killed and a further 70 injured by rampaging wild carnivores, previously harmless household pets, before the antidote could take effect. In the Doctor's considered opinion they had been lucky it hadn't been a lot worse. _

_UNIT slapped on a ferocious news and information blackout, of course. The official reason given was a crashed transporter containing biological waste. Questions were asked in Parliament. The government narrowly survived a vote of no confidence and life went on, as it does._

_At the end of the year there was a secret ceremony at Buckingham Palace to honour those involved in combating the Nottingham outbreak._

_Liz Shaw, by now back at Cambridge, attended and was honoured for her part in developing the virus antidote whilst on secondment to UNIT._

_Dr John Smith, from the same organisation, failed to show up._

(End of Part 8)


	9. Chapter 9

TONTINE

Part 9

10th Doctor

'Roadside Assistance'

_Out among the winds of the Space/Time Continuum, the Gallifreyan matrix orb weaved its inexorable path. In seeking its prey the orb could obfuscate, divert, disguise or cloak itself to prevent its awesome power becoming tangible._

_Above all it remained an observer, a seeker. _

_Yet even the most sophisticated technology is subject to miscalculation, failure or plain mischance._

_When it encountered a particularly violent flux in the time stream of a little blue/green planet called Earth, the orb described a huge swerve to avoid any untoward effects. However, it was fractionally out. Such an infinitesimal miscalculation would normally have no effect when measured against the huge panoply of everything. But in this case time's arrow was nudged off course..._

.

There was a 'ping' from the Tardis console which reminded Martha of her microwave oven going off.

The Doctor looked up, frowning. His never-resting eyes flitted across the instruments and his frown deepened. On the scanner Martha could see a complex sequence of cog-like symbols scrolling.

A picture then formed as Martha moved to the Doctor's side.

"Do I not like that!" breathed the Doctor, running a hand through his untamed hair.

"That's Buckingham Palace, isn't it?" she said. She noticed the flag fluttering high on the roof flagpole. "Her Maj is at home then."

The Doctor looked sideways at her and twisted a dial. The picture zoomed in on the flag.

"That's not in very good taste," Martha said, wrinkling her nose.

"It's the reality," said the Doctor. "Your London, early twenty-first century."

They both stared at the red flag with the white circle containing a crooked four-limbed cross. The swastika.

"What's happened?"

"Timeline Mutation."

She raised her eyebrows, inviting expansion.

"Something has thrown time off track," he explained, which didn't really explain much.

"What can we do about it?" Martha assumed they _could_ do something about it.

The Doctor waved a hand to shush her as the scrolling symbols reappeared on the scanner. His eyes narrowed as one of the symbols locked on the screen, flashing red.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed. His hands moved across the controls and the Tardis began to judder and vibrate.

He smiled at Martha. There was confidence and reassurance in that smile.

"We're going to fix it!" he shouted, just as the materialisation noise filled the room.

.

Martha gathered her jacket around her against a chilly evening wind. At times like this she envied the Doctor his long, enveloping coat.

The lane was dark, wide and smelled of the countryside. Tall hedges fringed it, almost black in this light. The Doctor held Martha's arm, guiding her quickly down the centre of the lane, away from where the Tardis was half-hidden in a copse of leafless trees. Across the fields came a distant sound. Music playing.

"Do you know where we are?" asked Martha, hurrying to keep up with her companion.

"More or less," he replied, off-hand. "South-East England."

"And when?"

" To be exact; 10 January, 1931, about 7.45 pm."

"That's pretty exact. And why?"

As they rounded a bend the Doctor nodded ahead.

Under an old-fashioned telegraph pole at the side of the road, a long black limousine was parked. Its bonnet was up and Martha could make out a cloud of steam or smoke wafting across at them. A figure was bent over, head under the bonnet. There was the sound of clinking. Metal on metal.

"Can you fix it, Ashton?" The voice had an American drawl and came from a figure standing on the other side of the vehicle from the Doctor and Martha.

"I'm not sure, Madam." was the muffled reply.

"Tut! This is too bad. If we can't get there for eight o'clock I shall return home. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Madam."

There was a swish of movement and the figure revealed itself to be an elegant woman, well-wrapped against the elements in a fur coat. There was a glitter of jewellery at her neck and a cigarette tip glowed in a long holder, held in a white-gloved hand.

She caught sight of the Doctor and Martha. The woman's severe face flickered with surprise before resuming its deep frown.

"Excuse me, can I help at all?" asked the Doctor.

"Do you have any experience of automobiles?" the woman asked anxiously. "I am already late for a very important social occasion."

"I could have a look," said the Doctor. As he stepped forward he murmured out the side of his mouth to Martha, "Keep her talking."

The Doctor crossed to the front of the car and tapped Ashton on the shoulder. "Could you try starting her up for me?"

The man in the chauffeur's uniform straightened up, glanced over at the woman, who nodded her agreement and he hurried to the driver's position.

There was a splutter from the engine and more clouds of steam.

"Intolerable. Simply Intolerable,"drawled the woman. She looked Martha up and down. A look that came right out of the nineteen-thirties. "I don't suppose _you_ would have suitable transport for me." It wasn't a question.

Martha shook her head, keeping her thoughts in check. Better to play dumb. "If anybody can fix it I'm sure the Doctor can."

The woman tutted again and looked impatiently at her watch.

Martha studied the tense face at her side. She was striking, certainly, but not beautiful in the conventional sense. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, maybe a little older and her face was certainly strong. A face used to being obeyed. Too much lippie though, thought Martha. _Waay_ too much.

From the front of the car there was a whining sound and a little glow of blue light that Martha recognised. Good old sonic!

The Doctor's head and shoulders appeared, waving to the driver.

"Try it now," he called.

The engine turned over, then fired and began revving noisily.

The Doctor bounded across. "There you go. Better get that head-gasket checked in the morning. But it'll get you to the party."

The woman looked at him quizzically and the Doctor thumbed over his shoulder."I heard the music. You seem dressed for a ball...dance...err...party." he finished, lamely.

"I suppose you will want payment."

The Doctor shook his head. "Have that on me. Fourth emergency service and all that."

The woman waited impatiently by the door as Ashton hurried round to open up. "Quickly, Ashton. I may still be in time for the first dance."

As he closed the door on his passenger Ashton exchanged a look with the Doctor.

"Good luck there, mate." said the Doctor. Ashton pursed his lips but said nothing as he hurried back to the driving position.

The car screamed off at speed.

"Not even a bloody thank you!" fumed Martha.

"The rich and powerful of this era can afford not to bother," said the Doctor.

"Where's she going in such a hurry?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe off to save the world. Shall we go and find out?"

Taking Martha's arm he led her back towards the Tardis.

.

With the Tardis in flight Martha found herself staring at the scanner again. Once more it showed a picture of Buckingham Palace, but this time the familiar Royal Standard flew over it.

"OK, I'll bite. You fixed somebody's car and mended time as well. How?"

The picture changed. It showed a woman's face. The woman from the country lane.

"Mrs Wallis Simpson," declared the Doctor. "Ever heard of her?"

"Rings a vague bell..." History wasn't Martha's strong point.

"She was on her way to a party at a country estate. There she will be introduced to the Prince of Wales. The future Edward VIII, King of England. It was imperative she make that party."

Martha snapped her fingers. "The Abdication Crisis."

The Doctor smiled. "He gave up the throne to marry the woman he loved."

"And if he had never met her?"

"Some other reality where he remained King at the outbreak of the Second World War. A reality where his sympathies towards the Third Reich meant that Britain didn't enter the war. A reality which led to the swastika flying over Buckingham Palace."

"All that just because you fixed her car?" Martha whistled. "Is that what you do, Doctor? Rush around history fixing things like that?"

"Sometimes threads break and they need attention. That was a potentially massive divergence." He stroked his chin. "I wonder what caused it?"

.

_The fractured time eddy linked, twisted and hardened. Tme's arrow now aimed true. The Gallifreyan matrix orb however, wobbled like a trick ball, its energy draining away. Wounded by its contact with the errant time-flux it lost power and fell helplessly towards eighteenth-century Earth..._

(End of Part 9 )


	10. Chapter 10

_**THE PERILS OF PERPUGILLIAM**_

**_Being the 10th Part of the Tontine Chronicles_**

* * *

_Dramatis Personae_

**The Doctor **of Gallifrey, the 6th of his line, a gaudily dressed time-traveller.

**Giacomo Casanova** of Venice, also a traveller, a bounder of the first order.

**A Man** of Paris, unhappily married.

**Perpugilliam Brown**, friend of the Doctor, also known as Peri.

**A Chambermaid** in a Paris hostelry.

Various background extras as appropriate, to suggest the people of Paris

* * *

Act I

_Paris 1750. A street at dusk._

_(Enter Peri and the Doctor, the latter carrying fishing rods. Parisian citizens are in the street, passing by, going about their business. They look curiously at the Doctor and Peri. One by one, they all exit, leaving the Doctor and Peri alone)_

_Peri _It is discomforting, is it not, to attract so many quizzing, unadmired looks? Walking dry city streets with angling impedimenta, and in your fashionless attire, looking more harlequin than fisherman!

_Doctor_'Tis the fault of the Tardis we are displaced so! My aim was fishing the Richmond waters fair in the time of King Hank Eight and Thomas More, that mismatched pair!

_Peri_ We are centuries out, in that particular quest for trout. Ah, pity the workman poor, basest of all fools, pinning the blame on his tools.

_Doctor_ Well, this fool bids you a temporary adieu. I seek employment for my rod.

_(Doctor exits) _

_Peri _I hope he means what I think he means, and not the vision appearing unbidden in my addled dreams! My time is my own, now he has taken umbrage at my minor aside. It is ever so with this particular son of Gallifrey, whose hot temper resides less than skin-deep in him. I sometimes wish this changling had never changed, and my gentle-faced companion had remained, rather than be left behind, victim of the Androzani spectrox, so unkind. Do I stay or do I go? Should I seek adventure elsewhere or wait here for his temper to cool as it will? On balance, the latter seems the lesser ill.

(_She sits on a step) _

I hope he will not be long be. A maiden alone may face many a peril navigating a safe course in this particular sea. But Lo! What is that? An evening star in yonder sky seems to have lost all sense of gravity! It falls, as did my spirits when the Doctor thoughtlessly abandoned me. I fear it is aiming true! To be squashed flat here in this famous city: is that my sad destiny?

_(A glass orb rolls across from the wings to rest at her feet)_

Is this celestial messenger for me? It seems tranquill in repose, but I worry it may explode! Oh if only the harlequin Doctor were here with his explanatory technobabble_. _All would be clear. But he seeks piscine sport elsewhere and I am left to my own devices, I fear.

_(She picks it up tentatively) _

It feels dead. As cold as ice. A shell of drained energies. I shake it but nothing rattles. It is as empty as a robbed tomb. But from whence and why? A mystery. Alas, poor goldfish bowl, I know you not at all.

_(Enter Casanova)_

_Casanova _Methinks it fell around here. Ah, maiden fair. I see you have found the fallen star I espied from afar.

_Peri_ It is of cool glass, not blazing sun. An orb fallen to ground, yet not shattered, still maintaining circumference round.

_Casanova _It is an orb, true. But it cannot compete with the orbs wimpled 'neath your pretty bodice, blue. Those indeed are the stuff of a man's dreams and blaze in their own glory!

_Peri_ Sirrah! I am unused to such direct ministrations! Please desist!

_Casanova_ How much, pray, would you have me pay?

_Peri_ This fallen globe is not for sale. I have a friend scientific who would its secrets unveil. I await his return even now.

_Casanova _You misunderstand me. When a maiden sits alone at dusk in this place I conclude she is willing to trade in the oldest profession. One orb will not do, when you have a pair such as those upon you!

_Peri Y_ou conclude wrong! I am no harlot. I'll thank you to leave me in peace and seek your pleasures elsewhere apace. I am not of this time and not of this place.

_Casanova_ But you are sweet of body and face. Is not the eternal game betwixt sexes played out in your race?

_Peri _Of course. Needs of procreation must and there still exists base lust. Some met by transaction, but not by me. I am not of that faction, do you not see?

_Casanova _Then I sincerely apologise my faux pas. I would beg you accept this humble token in restitution, sweet lass.

_Peri_ What is it?

_Casanova_ A gift to me. From a strange man of the skies who, in gratitude, rewarded me when I pulled him from his crashed fiery chariot, years past. He spake it would melt to me any creature of a stubborn heart. Then he did skyward depart.

_(He sprays Peri with perfume mist)_

_Peri _'Tis strange. It makes my head spin so.

_Casanova _You are mine now: your body, your soul, your eyes, your hair. What would'st I call you, maiden fair?

_Peri _I am Perpugilliam Brown, from the colonies afar.

_Casanova _Perpugilliam? A pretty tongue-twister, I'm bound to aver.

_Peri_, You may call me Peri...darling.

_Casanova _And I am Giacomo Casanova, of Venice born. Transiting this City of Love as part of my Grand Tour. And you, dear Peri, are under my spell. I am away to my lodgings. Follow me, Peri and bring your orbs as well!

_(Casanova exits)_

Peri My blood is afire, I tremble and try to resist. But I am in his thrall. Casanova? A name I do somewhat recall. What a man!

_(She rushes off after him. Enter the Doctor from the opposite side)_

_Doctor _Peri! Peri! Oh, why is it my companions of the female persuasion always disappear on t'first occasion? My plan to rob the mighty Seine of its fish is thwarted by clogging human detritus that has turn'd that mighty course septic. I return here to make my peace, but find Miss Brown has slipped the leash!

_(Enter Man)_

_Doctor _Good sir, well met! Have you perchance sighted a friend of mine who, mere moments past, was loitering at this very spot?

_Man_ Your friends are unknown to me, strange harlequin. This is a big city to hide in.

_Doctor _She is female...

_Man_ Which narrows it down to half the populace.

_Doctor _Petite, elfin of countenance; dressed in bodice blue, an unaccustomed cut of clothing to you. And, of speech, strangely accented.

_Man _I heard not her voice, but is she blessed with large...accoutrements?

_Doctor _Accoutrements?

_Man_ Of the frontal sort. Left and right; well-buttressed twins of delight.

_Doctor Y_our drift I do not get. A twin dilemma, yet! Ah, wait; I understand, I fear. Your crude description; it could be her!

_Man _Then I would give her up as lost, as I saw her in company of Casanova barely minutes since. His predatory arrow has found yet another mark.

_Doctor_ Casanova?

_Man_ The same. That famed lover with countless score, the lucky cur! They say he merely has to smile at a wench for her stays to depart south. I can only suggest you abandon any ambition in that girl's direction and, spying your rod, seek other fish in the sea, for your delectation.

_Doctor _I am her Guardian, of sorts. Tell me, where can I find Casanova?

_Man _He has, I believe, a room at the hostelry of Le Chien Gris, which has seen much pneumatic action these last few weeks of his residency. It is located on the Rue de la Carte Postales.

_Doctor _I am a stranger in a strange land. Cans't you direct me?

_Man_ My homeward route takes me past the very place. We can walk together, apace.

_Doctor _Thankee.

_Man _And whilst we perambulate so, you can tell me, Guardian, how does she go? My old wife is frugal in departments of the flesh. I would contrast that with your ward, I'll bet!

_Doctor_ Sirrah, is this all you ever talk about?

_Man _M'sieur, Je suis francais!

(Exeunt)

Act II

_Le Chien Gris: a bedchamber_

_(Peri is sitting on a large bed, holding the orb)_

_Peri _I sit and tremble like a virgin bride, the man of my dreams having left my side. I anticipate his return with tingling fervour. My blood heats. I am aflush. Well, poor bowl, you resemble the tool of a soothsayer. I'll wager, though, I can tell my own future over the next few hours, and I long for all his rampant powers.

_(Enter Chambermaid carrying a bag. She takes from it a negligee and hands it to Peri) _

_Maid _Your soons't lover bids you attire yourself with this and prepare for his return.

_Peri_ Where is he? I ache for him so.

_Maid._'Tis only natural, since you are under his spell. He is preparing the finest wine, sweetmeats and nosegay.

_Peri _Food, wine and nosegay be blowed! It is his body I am owed!

_Maid_ 'Tis his way, stay your thirst.

_Peri _Am I not the first?

_Maid _Oh, such naivety! You join the roll-call of the great lover. Unique you are not. There have been, how shall we say, quite a lot!

_Peri_ And you, pretty chambermaid? Were you, too, in this chamber laid?

_Maid _I blush to think on't, but it keeps me warm at night to recall! I was his first here, and I was in his thrall.

_Peri _And this gracious banquet I am about to receive? Is it worth the fuss or does his reputation deceive?

_Maid. _It is as if a gift from above! Enjoy the lust, but don't expect love.

_(Exit Chambermaid)_

_Peri M_y ardour cools somewhat, in light of this unwelcome intelligence. Part of me still aches for him, though his intentions be as transparent as this robe. Well orb, my future may not be as clear as your dormant glass. What do you say? Silent as ever, I'll put you away.

_(She puts the orb in the bag previously containing the negligee)_

_(Enter Casanova carrying a tray of sweetmeats, wine, goblets and a posy of flowers)_

_Casanova _What is this? Still attired for the street, I see. Pray disrobe and humour me.

Peri I am less entranced as I was. My honour is precious to me and not to be squandered so easily.

_Casanova_ Come, come, my little one. There have been women of rank in your enviable position. Ladies of society, nobility; and whisper it, Royalty.

Peri And maids o'the hostelry?

_Casanova_ I see a careless tongue has been wagging. Still, I admit that my tastes are as wide as your lips. Let me savour them and you will see this moment for what it is.

_Peri,_ Feign no, sir. I decline. The opportunity of becoming a bedpost notch does not appeal. My head clears and I want to leave, I feel.

_Casanova _This sometimes happens. Strong-willed resistance overcomes my magical fragrance. A second dose is all that is needed, a tiny amount. Stay awhile, while I whip it out.

_(He produces his perfume spray and advances on Peri)_

_(Enter the Doctor who rushes across and dashes the spray from Casanova's hand)_

_Casanova_ What manner of intrusion is this? Is no man safe from interrupted passion e'en in his own bedroom? Explain yourself, harlequin. I have a mind for restitution.

_Doctor_ I am this girl's Guardian temporal, for good or bad. You sir, are a downright cad.

_Casanova_ How so?

_Doctor _You abuse technology alien to gain your ends. A whiff of pheromone from the celestial sphere and another is added to your score, I fear. In this there is neither love or trust.

_Casanova _There is no purer love than lust.

_Doctor _Nonsense. The lust is only on your side. The other's lust is contrived. Your conquests are achieved by alien spoor and are the cheaper for it. When you are old these conquests will return to haunt you, though. You will live out a life of impotence and disease, unloved, a curio.

_Casanova_ Oh, you count yourself a seer?

_Doctor. _You may sneer. though when you are old and your flame has gone, do not be surprised if you find me here, looking on. Now, Peri, are you quite well and absolved of your unnatural fixation?

_Peri_ I am. I desire to leave this location.

_Doctor_ Then let us away.

_(Peri rises, picking up the bag containing the orb. The Doctor picks up the perfume spray)_

_Casanova_ So you steal my magical perfume for your own use, harlequin?

_Doctor_ I am many things, but not that kind of man. This I take to neutralise and discard, lest it fall into such weak hands again.

_Casanova _And you believe him, my little Perpugilliam?

_Peri_ Not all men are as thee, Giacomo Casanova. Now my head is flushed out, I see that clearly. I will bid you no fond farewell, but before I go I have a tale to tell.

_Casanova_. Must you? Be quick about it for the night is still young.

_Peri _Many years hence a soldier of the Germanic race, believing himself in a position of superiority over his foe, demanded craven surrender. His opponent, being less convinced, replied tersely and with little diplomacy. They fought on and my kinsmen won a famous victory.

_Casanova _And what was this tart response?

_(Peri kicks Casanova violently between the legs. He sinks to his knees in agony)_

_Peri_ Nuts!

_Doctor_ Well said, Peri! I knew not that you were a student of history as well as botany

_(Exit the Doctor and Peri. After a while Casanova struggles to his feet)_

_Casanova_ Nuts indeed! I will seek out the chambermaid and see if she will minister to me. Provided she does so...tenderly.

_(Exit Casanova, limping)_

Act III

_A lane on the outskirts of Paris. The Tardis stands here._

_(Enter the Doctor and Peri)_

_Doctor _Ah, faithful ship. As patient and steadfast as a rock on the sands of time! How fare you after our long foot-journey here, Peri. 'Tis past midnight.

Peri A little tired, Doctor. My head somewhat throbbing still.

_Doctor_ Pray rest a moment without, young lady, as I go inside to neutralise the alien perfume. I would not like there to be any accidental discharge that may cause embarrassment betwixt us.

Peri Amen to that! How will you render it inert?

_Doctor_ Are you determined to know?

Peri Why are you reticent so?

_Doctor_ Needs are that I must douse the perfume in a particular solution to neutralise it.

_Peri _What solution is it, that causes you such embarrassment?

_Doctor _Water 95%; Urea 9.3 Grams per Litre; Chloride 1.87 g/L; Sodium 1.17 g/L; Potassium 0.75 g/L; Creatinine 0.67 g/L and other lesser amounts of various ions and compounds. Now, you see my predicament?

_Per_i Not at all. Wait. Did I rightly hear? Speak you of urea?

_Doctor _The same. It is urine mine that I must use to effect the neutrality.

_Peri _I think it best that I wait outside then, as you suggest. That procedure is something best left unseen.

_Doctor_ I shall be back momentarily once my waters employed. And do not wander off this time, Peri eh?

_(The Doctor exits into the Tardis)_

_Peri _I shall be glad to be away from this place and the memories which bring such a blush to my face. But wait. What is this? The once dead orb in my bag does judder and vibrate apace!

_(She takes the orb out of the bag)_

It shakes like the ague and whines tinnily! Is life returning to this cold glass? What can it be? It speaks to me, in my mind. It says it craves power of a Gallifreyan kind.

_(She holds it against the Tardis)_

It draws energy from the Doctor's ship to repair itself anew! Say again, lively orb, what must I do?

_(Peri goes off to the side and throws the orb over-arm into the wings)_

It flies into the night sky like a bat out of Hell. There it goes, trailling fire, fare thee well!

_(She returns to the Tardis) _

An orb of Gallifreyan origin. I know not its purpose other than it is on a quest most secret. A quest that takes it otherwhere. I have promised to keep my counsel. I will, for I'm that kind of girl.

_(The Tardis door opens and the Doctor pokes his head out)_

_Doctor _The deed is done and the perfidious perfume dissolved by my acidity. Tell me, Peri, did you perceive any unusuality just now? The power of the Tardis dipped momentarily as if robbed by external force. It is a puzzlement.

_Peri _To me also. Can we go now, if you please?

_Doctor_ Indeed, Miss Brown. We can depart.

_Peri _Without a stain on my character or an ache in my heart!

_(They both enter the Tardis and the door closes)_

_CURTAIN_

(End of Part 10)


	11. Chapter 11

TONTINE

Part 11

13th Doctor

'Colours'

There was no doubt about it, I was going to die.

The stinking, clenching mud was nearly up to my waist.

_(I was sinking at 4.45 centimetres per minute. At that rate the mud would be over my mouth and nose in 14.44 minutes; quicker if I struggled)_

The stench was overwhelming and I could hear bubbles of gas bursting all around me.

It was my own fault of course. I shouldn't have wandered off alone. As the track narrowed I had stepped out into disaster. I promised myself faithfully that I wouldn't do it again. That was academic, of course. I wasn't going to get the chance.

I tried calling out for the Doctor, but there had been no response. He could be miles away. He would never know what had happened to me.

They say that your life flashes before your eyes in these circumstances. A little ironical for me of course, but my mind drifted, certainly.

But before I start all that I had better introduce myself.

My name is Aileen Caddy. I'm a 20 year-old law student, studying at St Cedds, Cambridge. For the past six months I have been travelling with the Doctor in the Tardis.

And, oh yes, I am blind.

.

I first met the Doctor in the college grounds _(6 months 4 days, 3 hours and 22 minutes ago)_. I had woken that fateful morning to find that everybody had gone. Students, lecturers, ancillary staff, the lot.

Ghost Town.

I was walking around the place, tapping about with my stick and calling out to no avail. I had never felt more blind. Out in the quad a quiet voice had pulled me up short.

"Please don't panic, young lady. I can help." That was the Doctor. And help he did.

It transpired that a race of aliens, called the Maggrat, had used some kind of hypnosis ray to kidnap the whole of St Cedds and transport them up to an orbital space-ship, intending to drain off their energies for their own use. This ray was visually-based, and as I was the only blind student on campus...

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Doctor managed to release the prisoners and send the Maggrat on their way. You know, the way the Doctor usually handles things.

Having said that, my lack of eyesight came in handy when the Maggrat ensnared the Doctor in another of their visual traps. The Doctor was kind enough to say that I had saved his life.

We had stood outside the Tardis as the Doctor was about to leave. I didn't know about the Tardis then, of course. But I could feel its incongruity. The wooden wardrobe that hummed and fizzed with suppressed power. And I could sense that there was something wrong with its interior dimensions as it stood there.

"Thank you for all your help, Aileen," he had said.

I didn't know where he was going but I knew it would be wonderful...and...well...if you never ask, you never know.

"Doctor, can I come with you?"

I heard his sharp intake of breath. "I'm sorry, I travel alone. Have been for a long time now. In any event you have your studies to consider. And it would be dangerous because..."

"Of my blindness." I finished for him. His silence was answer enough. "Doctor, have you ever heard the expression 'trying to explain colour to a blind man' ?"

"I have." I could hear the puzzlement.

"Explain colour to me."

He cleared his throat, " Erm...colour is an attribute of things that results from the light they reflect, transmit or emit in so far as this light causes a visual sensation that depends on its wavelengths..."

"A dictionary definition," I interrupted. "Doctor, what is 'blue'?"

I could feel his discomfort."The colour of the sky above us."

"And green?"

"The colour of grass."

"I've never seen the sky or grass. I was born like this. People tell me that all my other senses have developed to compensate. I don't know what they mean. This is how it always is for me. My normality. I think I'm fairly clever. I hope to be a lawyer one day. But there is this mystery. Something I can't figure out, no matter how much I read about it."

"Colour."

I nodded. "I think you may be able to explain colour to me, if anyone can."

There was a massive silence and I could hear his brain whirring. Then there was a heavy sigh and the sound of a key turning in a lock. I followed him into impossibility.

_(59.5 centimetres. 13.22 minutes left)_

So we travelled together. For me I would just walk through the Tardis doors into its massive humming space, full of strange, tingling energy and then out into somewhere else.

There were so many new sensations. The Chiming Forests on Glandulus Five, for example. The Intelligent Smell of the Kanubine; The Hypno Winds of Taumus.

It was not all plain sailing, of course. You know the Doctor. We had some thrills and spills along the way. Righted a few wrongs.

The Daleks. The first time I realised that I could actually smell evil.

Being crawled over by a nest of Cyberworms wasn't much fun either. And the memory of the clammy, cold rubber skin of the Voord still gives me the willies.

Oh, and history. Prohibition Chicago, meeting that nice Joseph Merrick in Victorian London, that kind of stuff.

But still no colours.

The Doctor remained a mystery to me. He had a voice like some of my old professors. Cultured, clipped and steeped in knowledge. I had refrained from mapping his face with my hands. I thought it might embarrass him.

It was on our trip to Mezzarios, though, that I learned a bit more. We were relaxing, floating in the Ionic clouds that Mezzarios was famous for. A distinctly weird feeling, but soothing.

The Doctor had become rather effusive, for him. He told me that he was, he thought, the last of his race. He was certainly the last of his line. The thirteenth edition of himself and unable to regenerate any more.

I let him talk. I think he wanted to. I didn't understand most of it, but I could hear sadness, yet acceptance, in his voice.

We hurriedly left Mezzarios when it transpired that the Doctor was rather sensitive to the Ionic clouds. They made him slightly tipsy!

And so to my current predicament and impending death.

_(55.29 centimetres, 12.28 minutes left)_

I had woken in my room in the Tardis to find the ship empty and the door open. I wasn't overly concerned. The Doctor had done this before, wandering off to collect his precious flora and rock samples. As I stood at the door I could feel the twin source of heat from a double star overhead. I could smell the wetness of a jungle, hear the swishing vegetation and distant animal noises.

I know I should have waited for him. I could almost hear his voice telling me to. Just a couple of steps, I thought. The sunlight felt good.

SPLAT!

And here I am.

.

Just as the mud nudged the top of my ribs I heard it. It was beyond the range of normal hearing but I am told my hearing is not 'normal' . A kind of chattering whine. At first I thought it was some kind of flying insect, but I realised the sound was electronic. And it was high, coming down fast from nearly a hundred metres _(98.75 to be exact)._

Then there was something directly in front of my face, bristling with energy. My skin tingled. Without doubt I was being _scanned_.

"Hello? Can you help get me out? I'm sinking."

No reply. I reached out, flailing and my left hand brushed against something. I cupped both hands around it, feeling its strange surface, at once plastic and marble and glass.

It was the size of a football and hovering without support.

Just as my hands outlined its shape there was a sudden loud crackle, like static electricity being discharged. I snatched my hands away automatically and I felt some kind of force pushing against my chest firmly. If I hadn't been stuck in this mud-pool then I would certainly have staggered, if not fallen. Thinking back on it now I've rationalised it as some sort of self-defence mechanism, fending me off. At the time I didn't understand it at all.

Then it happened.

Something began to fizz and tingle, inside my head. When I was a little girl Mom used to put sherbet crystals on my tongue. To stimulate my taste buds, she had said. This feeling was just like that. Only deep in my mind.

You will have to bear with me now, as I am trying to describe something outside my experience up to that time. I hope the words are right.

A picture formed. A real honest to goodness _picture !_

There was an upright shape, dark and light, standing in a pool of slimy mud. With a terrible start I realised that I was looking (is that the right word?) at myself. It was at once the most frightening yet wonderful thing. I forgot completely about my impending death. Did I really look (?) like that? So different to how I imagined.

Then it struck me. The viewpoint I had (is that the right phrase?) must be that of the mysterious globe. How else could I have been looking at myself? Even my arms were still outstretched, reaching for it.

Then I seemed to shrink, slowly moving away, getting smaller. The whole of the mud pool and its environs opened out. I guessed the globe was climbing away from me, yet still I could see through its eyes.

There was the whole of the mudpool, fringed by tall vegetation. On the path, tantalisingly close, was what must be the Tardis, standing tall. These things I took in instantaneously.

But, oh, the _colours_!

The sky above was so beautifully _blue. _It contained two suns, one glowing _white_, the other _golden_. The vegetation was a myriad of _greens,_ dark, dappled and light. The colour of life. The mud was _grey-brown_, bursting with bubbles which spewed up steam of the same colour; the colour of death – my death.

I was dazzled breathless by this kaleidoscope.

Then the picture seemed to rush away at a tremendous rate as the little mud pool became first an expanse of land, then a continent and was finally swallowed by a green sphere hanging against an immense blackness.

The picture snapped off, and I was back inside my head again. The mud was up to my chest now, but I hardly cared. I was panting with excitement.

It was almost worth it. Exchanging my life for those precious few seconds. The picture popped out from my memory and I could comfort myself with it for my last few minutes.

_(3 minutes 21.4 seconds to be precise)_

Then I spotted it. There, in the picture in my memory.

To my right, just within reach. A tangle of creepers stretching out from the bank, lying across the surface of the mud.

I had one chance at it. I leaned slightly over to my right and flailed about with my hand. At first I thought I had missed it and had only accelerated the end. But suddenly I had it in my hands, sinewy but unyielding vegetation.

It took me nearly fifteen minutes of excruciating effort to pull myself out, hand over hand _(14 minutes 57.6 seconds)_. The mud was voracious and didn't want to give me up, but eventually I lay on the firm, firm path, exhausted and covered with slime. My arms felt as though they had been wrenched from my shoulders.

Just as I was beginning to scrape off some of the mud I heard footsteps approach. A measured pace _(of exactly 42.6 centimetres per stride)_. The Doctor.

I heard him stop suddenly, then hurry over to me with that little shuffling, agitated gait of his that he adopted at times of stress.

"Aileen! My dear girl..."

"It's OK, Doctor. I'm fine. I managed to get out. It was my own fault. I should have stayed in the Tardis."

He helped me up. I tried not to wince with the pain in my arms. On his hands I could smell the flora samples he had dropped.

"Come on. We'll get you cleaned up." I heard him reach for the Tardis key in his inside pocket.

"Doctor."

"Mmm ?"

"After that, could you take me home? Back to St Cedds?"

There was a long pause. "It's a perfectly natural reaction, after such an experience-"

I shook my head and smiled. "No. It's not that." How to explain? "Something happened to me in there. I don't know whether it was some kind of near-death experience..."

I reached out to him, touching his arm. "Your jacket. It's not black like everybody says. It's a very dark shade of blue. Your hair, I can feel its whiteness but there are also patches of silver. And grey." My hand moved to the pendant at his throat. "This jewel is red. Deep, deep red. The colour of blood. I can feel them, Doctor. Colours. The blue of the sky, the green of the grass."

"What happened, Aileen? What caused this?" There was genuine awe in his voice.

I shrugged. "A miracle. Thank you Doctor."

"Me? I've done nothing."

"You brought me here."

There was a long silence. "Are you sure you want to go home?"

I nodded. "Mission accomplished."

I heard the key turn in the lock and the Doctor step to one side. I paused at the open door to run my hand over the pimply, translucent glass of the windows. Then I caressed the frame, feeling the grain of the wood under my fingers.

The blueness of it.

Oh, the _blueness..._

(End of Part 11)


	12. Chapter 12

TONTINE

Part 12

1st Doctor

'A Week in the Death of Ian Chesterton'

_The diary of Barbara Wright, schoolteacher._

Sunday

Ian died today.

I can't believe I am forcing myself to write these terrible words.

Everybody knew we were in love. That when the Doctor finally got us home we would pop off and get married. Mr and Mrs Chesterton. It sounded so right.

But you know what, dear diary? I never even told Ian that I loved him. Nor did he tell me. It was just understood.

I loved him ever since that first day at Coal Hill School, when I got my skirt caught in the door frame and he had so gallantly rescued me from my embarrassment. Of course that was nothing compared to the countless times he had ridden to the rescue once we set off with the Doctor and Susan on our madcap trip around the universe.

The Doctor and Susan.

She is hysterical, of course. I always knew she had a teenage crush on Ian.

The Doctor tries to be reserved, almost 'British' about it. Even when I pleaded with him to do something magical. Turn back time or take the Ship back so that we could rescue Ian. The old man had patted my head and dried my tears. But in the end he shook his head.

I can't write any more now. I feel so very tired and alone.

Ian died today.

Monday 

I told Ian once that I was keeping this diary. He said it made no sense.

He was right of course. The pages are headed, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. but they are just convenient spaces in a book. I don't know what day it is, what year or what century.

But you tell me, diary, it was a Monday when I went back to the place where Ian had died. Susan came with me. We supported each other as we looked out from the pretty shingle and sand beach, out over the deep blue water. In the sky a ringed moon was sinking towards the horizon. It was quite beautiful really but neither Susan or I were in the mood to appreciate it.

The Doctor had stayed in the Tardis. He said he had no time for sentimentality and he need to work on the Ship. I could have hit him, except I thought he was only acting the part of a gruff old man.

According to the Doctor we were somewhere in the Mezon galaxy and it was here, billions of miles from home that Ian had died, blown to atoms. We couldn't even bury him.

When Susan and I returned to the Ship the Doctor told us that his repairs were going well. We would be able to leave soon.

I dread it.

Tuesday

Today, we had a stand up row, the Doctor and I. He had came out to where I was sitting, looking out over the horizon, lost in thought.

He told me the Ship was nearly ready. I told him I didn't want to go and leave Ian here. He told me there was nothing left to leave. He got angry. I got angry. His mouth twitched and he tapped at a rock with his walking cane. He said the Tardis was leaving soon, with or without me. I screamed insults at him as he walked away.

After I had calmed down I went to the beach.

The metal disc was still there on the sand, half-buried, dull and lifeless. I shuddered as I saw the scene in my head. It was seared in there. When Ian had stepped onto the disc inadvertently as we explored and it had crackled and blazed with electricity. The look on surprise Ian's blessed face as he had vanished, his atoms blown to the wind.

Later on, when the crying had stopped, the Doctor speculated that it was some kind of weapon, like a land-mine.

As I looked at that disc, dear diary, I determined that I was going to join my darling. I couldn't face leaving him here, alone. I lifted my foot to take the final step when I saw him.

Ian

Or at least his ghost. Standing on the disc but almost transparent. He mouthed to me but there were no words. He then blinked out, like somebody had turned off a switch.

I ran back to the Ship and explained to the Doctor and Susan what I had seen.

Susan came over and hugged me.

Pity. I could see it in both their eyes. They thought I was hallucinating.

The Doctor said we would be taking off in an hour.

Wednesday

Well, we didn't take off yesterday because I sabotaged the Tardis!

I know very little about the controls, just the door button really. But I remembered how the Doctor sabotaged the Ship himself, back on Skaro. So, dear diary, when the Doctor and Susan left me alone in the Control Room for a moment I wrenched open a panel and pulled out the fluid link. Then I opened the door and ran outside.

I hid the fluid link. I won't say where in case the Doctor reads this. Then I went down to the beach again.

After a while I could hear Susan calling for me. I ran across some pebbly shingle and hid in the dunes.

She tried to find me for a long time before giving up and leaving. I was wondering where her grandfather was when I turned around and bumped into him! Such was my fatigue, grief, fear and surprise that I fainted at his feet.

Thursday

_Don't give up on me, my darling. I am all around you. You need to get back to the beach. I will be waiting. I._

I was in my room aboard the Ship when I awoke. I can only guess that the Doctor and Susan had carried me back. I don't remember any of it.

But when I saw the message above I ran screaming into the Control Room.

Susan and the Doctor read it. It was Susan who pointed out that the message was in my handwriting. She was right, and I admitted as much. But I couldn't remember writing it. I tried to convince them that it was Ian, somehow, but the Doctor wouldn't talk to me until I returned the fluid link. I asked Susan for help and, left to her own devices I think she would have, but the Doctor forbade it. He turned his back on me and I left the Ship alone.

Friday

Oh day of days! I must write it all down while it is fresh in my mind.

When I got to the disc on the beach Ian was floating there again, shimmering like smoke. I was sorely tempted to run back to the Ship and fetch the others but his ghostly figure was mouthing something. This time I could make it out. He wanted me to fetch the Doctor's fluid link!

Puzzled, I ran back to the clump of rocks by the Tardis where I had hidden it. When I got back to the disc on the beach Ian was gone and my spirits plunged. Then, dear diary, the strangest, most wonderful thing! The fluid link twitched in my hand. Almost by itself it pointed at the disc. It was like a divining rod detecting water.

Then there was an electric flash between the fluid link and the disc.

I was momentarily blinded, but when my vision cleared. Ian was standing next to me!

I may have fainted again. I'm sure you can understand that. When I was compos mentis again we hugged and I cried in buckets. Over by the the disc there was movement. Together we watched as a glass sphere, the size of a football, slowly rose into the sky before shooting away like a rocket.

I wanted to know everything. Ian made me promise that I would say nothing to the Doctor and Susan about the glass sphere we had just seen. I couldn't understand why, but he seemed adamant and I agreed.

We sat on the sand. I wouldn't let him go, of course. Ian told me that the disc on the beach had been part of a defence system installed by a vastly advanced race, thousands of years ago. They had lived on this island and been threatened with invasion. But their beliefs forbade the taking of life so their scientists invented a way of displacing the invaders in time.

I didn't really understand it and Ian said neither did he. The sphere had told him all this.

When the invasion took place the defences were activated and the invaders were shifted half a second out of phase. Nobody was killed but they were all placed in a kind of prison in time where they could do no harm.

I protested that the island was uninhabited. Ian said that this all happened millenia ago. Both the islanders and the invaders had long since gone.

When Ian trod on the disc he was also displaced. The only thing in his time-prison was the glass orb, which was similarly trapped, having landed on the beach and activated the disc itself.

The orb had communicated with Ian telepathically and directed him to get me to bring the fluid link. For some reason it would help the orb break out of the time-prison. Something to do with the power from the Doctor's Ship, Ian said.

By this time my head was swimming, but I couldn't wait to see the Doctor's face!

Saturday

You can only imagine the uproar when Ian and I returned to the Ship. Susan screamed the place down and took a flying leap into Ian's arms. The Doctor, to give him his due, beamed like a lighthouse and even got Ian's name right! As I handed over the fluid link I apologised but he smiled beneficently and gave me a massive hug. That was all I needed from him.

Whilst the Ship was being powered up Ian gave the Doctor and Susan a carefully guarded account of his time away. I could see that the Doctor was foaming at the mouth for more detail but Ian pleaded exhaustion and we went away to the living quarters.

There, Ian told me that he had read my diary. He apologised for doing so. But then he said the words I longed to hear.

(End of Part 12)


	13. Chapter 13

TONTINE

Part 13

4th Doctor

'Kindergarten Doc'

Memory.

It's a funny old thing.

She had just completed a filler for the Sunday supplement. It was a short piece but with photographs maybe she could eke out a double-page feature if she was lucky. It was called 'First Thoughts' and was basically a run-around of various celebrities (C-Listers mostly) and other minor 'names', wherein they described their earliest childhood memories.

She felt it wasn't a bad piece for an eighteen year-old, struggling to make a name in the industry.

And she had learned a valuable lesson. Always double-check. One fairly well-known pop singer had faithfully recounted how her earliest memory had been when her pilot father had taken her on the first Concorde flight to New York. It transpired that she hadn't even been born when Concorde made her maiden flight to New York and her father was a porter at Smithfield market!

It was dark in the newsroom. She had worked late to finish off the article and the place was deserted. As she dropped it in the editor's pending tray her mind drifted back, to her own earliest memory. In an instant she was back in the pre-school nursery...

.

"Mrs Peters is a little bit poorly today, children," said the school secretary, trying to make herself heard above the strident babble of four year-olds. Thirty of them!

Those of them that understood booed. They all liked Mrs Peters and anyway, she had promised to bring in her guinea-pig today!

"I want Mrs Peters!" shouted Geoffrey Clarke, and then burst into tears. A sensitive boy.

"Has she gone to heaven like Millie the Goldfish did?" asked Daisy Cuttle.

"No, she's not gone to heaven. She will be back tomorrow." Uproar and hullaballoo. The secretary was fighting a losing battle. "So, just for today, we have got a new teacher to look after you."

He walked in with his hands in his pockets. He had a mass of tightly curled hair and an enormous scarf that wound round and round his neck yet still trailed along the floor behind him. He perched himself on the desk looking at the sprawling mass sitting on the mat. He had bulging eyes that seemed to look everywhere at once. He was so unusual that some kids laughed, some cried and a few cowered.

Following him in came a striking girl dressed in what seemed to be animal skins. She had long hair and she looked tanned and healthy. She went to the side of the room and leaned moodily against the wall, her eyes darting hither and thither, like a caged animal.

The secretary shook her head and beat a hasty retreat.

The man said nothing for ages, waiting patiently. The babble of infant voices first intensified then started to fade. Children began to fidget in the silence and the man broke into a grin, displaying a huge set of teeth.

"Good morning, children," he said. His voice was a low baritone rumble." Over there is my good friend Leela. My name is a bit difficult for you to say but you can call me Doctor."

Jimmy Given put his hand up. "Mr Doctor, I've wet my pants, " he said, proudly.

"Ah. Well, Leela will look after you, won't you Leela?"

The girl called Leela flashed the man a murderous look as Jimmy walked, bandy-legged, over to her. She snatched his proffered hand and began to lead him through to the bathroom.

"And Leela, don't forget; no Janis Thorns!"

The girl snorted and the door banged behind her.

"Right." The man clapped his hands together. "While we are waiting, let's see what you know." He hopped off the table, grabbed a piece of chalk and went over to the board. He covered it with unintelligible graffiti.

He turned on the class. "Now, this is the formula for Temporal Reflux. Can anybody tell me the structure of the Perpetual Determinant, using this algorithm?"

The children blinked up at him.

"No?" He wrote again. "How about this, then? Can anybody tell me the missing integer? What, no takers?" He put the chalk down. " I may have misjudged my audience here. What exactly do you want me to do?"

Sammy Facer put his hand up. "Can you do tricks? I like tricks." A number of children enthusiastically chorused their agreement.

The Doctor sighed and pulled out a couple of Yo-Yos. "Will these do?"

Thus it was that when Leela returned from the bathroom with her newly-clean charge, she was treated to the sight of the Doctor whirling a pair of Yo-Yos around in front of the class.

"That one's called the Gravity Pull, useful in the vicinity of gas-giants...the Sleeper...the Forward Pass...Walking the Dog...Rocking the Baby..." The Doctor's Yo-Yos whirled and twirled in front of the spellbound children. He seemed to be having a whale of a time but when he noticed Leela looking on he seemed to lose concentration and both Yo-Yos bounced off the top of his head, much to the amusement of his audience. Even Leela hid a smile behind her hand.

"Yewwww!" Endorina Flaherty put up her hand.

"Yes?" asked the Doctor.

"Jonny Childs has gone whiff-whiff!"

"Whiff-whiff?" The Doctor looked puzzled. Then a noxious smell floated to the front of the class and the Doctor wasn't puzzled any more. He looked over to Leela.

"Oh no! It's your turn," she said, defiantly.

"Absolutely," said the Doctor. "I'll leave you to entertain the class shall I?"

A look of horror flickered across Leela's face. With a sigh she crooked her finger and Jonny Childs waddled over. She took him through to the bathroom.

And so it went on for the rest of the morning.

The children played in sand and water, drew unintelligible things with coloured crayons and generally made a terrible mess in the process.

The Doctor persuaded Leela to tell a story. This she reluctantly did, describing how she would go about hunting a deer in a forest, armed only with her knife. She was quite enjoying herself but the Doctor intervened just as she was about to slit Bambi's throat!

It was Billy Milton's birthday and they spent the last session of the morning blowing up balloons for his celebration in the afternoon.

At last the lunch bell sounded and the children filed dutifully out for their food and milk, thankfully supervised by the dinner-ladies.

The Doctor and Leela puffed out their cheeks as they looked around the bomb-site of a classroom.

"Tough crowd, " murmured the Doctor.

"I've never been so tired!" exclaimed Leela. "Are these...these _things..._really the ancestors of the Sevateem?"

The Doctor nodded ruefully. "And there's still the afternoon yet! I don't know how teachers keep going day after day." He turned to Leela, who was half-heartedly trying to remove a concrete-like mound of congealed sand from the mat. "The important question, Leela, is: have you any idea? Any inkling?"

Leela shook her head.

"Me neither," said the Doctor. "I think we are going to need reinforcements!"

.

The children filed duly back for the afternoon entertainment.

The first thing on the agenda was the celebration of Billy Milton's birthday. The boy stood shyly at the front of the room as 'Happy Birthday To you' rang out tunelessly from his classmates. Portions of birthday cake, provided in little bags by Billy's well-meaning mother were distributed around the class. They were covered in a particularly virulent shade of blue icing. Leela tried a piece and spat it into her hand with an incredulous look.

As for the children, who had just returned from their lunch, the effect was somewhat predictable. Three of them threw up; one over the Doctor's shoes.

After the mess had been cleaned up the Doctor waved the children into silence.

"Now somebody told me that Mrs Peters was going to bring in her guinea-pig today," he said.

"Yay Mrs Peters...we want the guinea-pig...where's Mrs Peters?...she's in heaven with Millie the goldfish...no she isn't..."

With an effort the Doctor shushed the children into silence. "Well, I haven't got a guinea-pig but perhaps you would like to see my dog." He nodded to Leela, who opened the classroom door.

K9 trundled in, his motor whirring.

"Master." he said.

After a moment's stunned silence the children exploded into wild screaming and cheering. They abandoned the mat and surged towards the metal dog, rapping their fingers on its tin shell and some grabbed for its sensor-ears or tail probe.

The machine started to back off and its nose-blaster appeared. "Emergency self-defence mode initiated! Hostile life-forms..."

"K9 NO!" ordered the Doctor. "Bad dog!"

"Oh, I don't know," smirked Leela.

After what seemed like an age they managed to get the children sitting on the mat once more.

"Now this is my friend K9," said the Doctor.

"Does he do pooh-poohs in a tin can?.. where does he live?...can he do tricks?"

The Doctor held up his hand. " He can do tricks. He can make pretty colours. Now if you just sit still and quiet for a moment I'll get him to do something for you." He turned to the metal dog at his side. "K9. Low-level DNA scan, please."

A wide-angle blue beam shot out of the nose-blaster, bathing the children gently in its light.

"Ooh...Just like Christmas...pretty...pretty..."

The light snapped off.

"Well?" asked the Doctor.

"Inconclusive, master."

"Inconclusive? What do you mean, inconclusive?" snapped the Doctor.

"Inconclusive...adjective...not conclusive or decisive... not finally settled...indeterminate..."

"Shut up, K9."

"Yes, master."

"Can you probe any deeper?"

"A level 2 probe is available but that may result in cellular damage."

"I say try it," said Leela, enthusiastically.

The Doctor shook his head. "The final bell will be going soon. Perhaps we need to be a little more adroit."

He clapped his hands. "Children. Children! We have time for one more story before the bell."

"Is it about a fairy princess?...or a hungry mouse?...or old MacDonald's farm?"

"None of those." said the Doctor. "This is about a war."

"What's war?"

"It's a great big fight between people. In this case two different types of people."

"I saw a fight in the playground once..."

"This fight took place...up in the sky...a long way away." The Doctor pulled out a folded poster from his inside pocket and pinned it to the board "This is a picture of a Sontaran. The Sontarans were one of the people involved in the war."

"Yeew!...he looks like Mr Potato Head...it's Humpty Dumpty..."

"Well he isn't either of those. There were lots and lots of Sontarans in this war." He pulled out another poster and place it alongside. It showed a green, tentacled blob. "And this is a Rutan. The Sontarans and the Rutans didn't like each other very much and they had this war together. Now, there were many more Sontarans than Rutans. But the Rutans could change what they looked like, which made it difficult for the Sontarans." He paused. "But in the end the Sontarans won the war. They wiped out the Rutans. Completely."

"That is rubbish!" The voice cut across the room. A boy was standing, little Bobby Fall. He looked indignant.

"I'm sorry?" said the Doctor. "What did you say?"

"That's rubbish. A heresy!" spat the boy, his voice unusually low. "The war goes on. It will never cease until victory is ours!" He glared around the room. But suddenly little Bobby's face changed from indignant to 'uh oh!'

"K9, containment field!" said the Doctor, quickly.

A beam of white light shot out from the dog's nose-blaster, striking the boy. Bobby Fall shimmered and vanished. In his place was a green blob, trailing tentacles. Identical to the picture on the wall. A Rutan.

It hung suspended in the air, captured in K9's beam.

"Ooohhh..." said the children.

"OK, Leela. Stasis -Box!"

Leela jumped forward, holding a small metal box with one end open, pointing at the trapped Rutan. She thumbed a switch on the outside of the box and the Rutan flowed towards her, like dust towards a vacuum cleaner. With a ping the box closed on the Rutan and Leela held it up triumphantly.

There was a moment's stunned silence from the children. Then some began to cheer, some began to scream and some burst into tears at what they had just seen.

It took some time to calm them all down. At last the Doctor perched on the desk before them.

"Now children, there is nothing to worry about. The Rutan is safely locked-up. He had been hiding among you. A bad Rutan, trying to escape justice for war crimes on a planet far away. That is why Leela, K9 and I came here. To take him back."

"Do it again...Do it again..."

The Doctor held up his hand. "No, children, we are finished here. Mrs Peters and her guinea-pig will be back tomorrow. But there is one more thing left to do before the bell..." He turned to his side. "K9. Low level neural inhibitor, please."

A golden light doused the children.

"Will they forget it all?" asked Leela, looking at the quiet, blinking children.

The Doctor shrugged. "Not immediately, but their memories will fade until it just becomes a distant dream for them. Ah, there's the bell. OK, children. Don't forget your party balloons. Your mummies and daddies will be waiting..."

The children began to file out obediently.

"Leela, if you and K9 will go back to the Tardis we can take the Rutan ambassador back to Venax IV to face his overdue trial."

"Are you coming, Doctor?" asked Leela at the door.

"In a moment. I just want a quick word with this little girl."

He closed the door, leaving him alone with a dark-haired girl who blinked up nervously at at him.

"Don't be afraid, " he said. "I've met you before, you know. Although you haven't met me yet. I jumped a time-track to be here actually. Bent the rules a bit. Still, what are rules for if you can't bend them now and again?"

"I want to see my mummy now," said the girl.

"And so you shall, I promise. But first I need to give you a neural block. It's a bit stronger than K9's inhibitor but it is important that you do not remember me at all."

The Doctor placed his hands on the girl's head. Her eyes closed.

"There," he said. "Now just keep your eyes closed a moment until I'm gone." She heard his footsteps and the door opened. "Until we meet again, Sarah Jane..."

The door closed.

.

Eighteen-year old Sarah Jane Smith frowned at the memory. "Until we meet again, Sarah Jane," the voice had said. But she didn't know who had said it.

But that wasn't the memory.

No, the memory was of the empty nursery classroom and the balloon from Billy Milton's birthday. How it had tugged itself out of her hand and floated over towards the open window. How it had suddenly changed into a brilliant white globe, perfectly round. How It had darted out of the window with a crackle of power. Little Sarah Jane had just got to the window in time to see it blaze off into the sky like a rocket.

"Bye," she had said, waving to it.

Sarah Jane smiled as she left the newsroom. Was it all a dream?

Memory.

It's a funny old thing.

(End of Part 13)


	14. Chapter 14

TONTINE

Part 14

12th Doctor

'Kim 2'

* * *

_(Author's note: The events in this chapter follow directly on from my short story 'Applebury'. There are also brief references to other of my short stories featuring the 12th Doctor and Kim Gideon)_

* * *

Kim Gideon sang in the shower.

She was experimenting with her new vocal chords in the same way you would any new toy. Her voice was strong, young and slightly husky, which didn't mean she could sing any better than she did before, of course!

After a vigorous rub down to get dry she dressed in the new set of clothes she had selected from the extensive Tardis wardrobes. A long mauve blouse over black leggings, a crocheted scarf draped carelessly around her neck and a matching beret. Cream pumps.

She looked at herself in the full length mirror. It seemed only a blink ago that she had been a dying seventy-year old. Now she was a picture of health. A woman in, maybe, her mid twenties with perfect skin, tumbling hair and hooded eyes. A figure to die for and legs that went on forever. And if she said so herself, wow!

Kim 2. The Doctor's gift to her. Regeneration. Not something available to any other human in history. Why had he granted it to her? What was his motivation?

Kim hardly dared to hope. She sashayed out into the short corridor leading to the Control Room and by the time she reached it she had made a decision.

Mrs Kim Knapp or just Kim Gideon? She smiled at the memory of her late husband. God, what would Jim have made of her now?

As she entered the Control Room she spoke, "I've decided I would like to be called Kim Gideon again-"

Kim pulled up short. The room was empty. The geometric designs on the wall that flowed when the Tardis was in flight were still, meaning they had landed, a fact confirmed when she saw the open doorway leading outside.

Well, he might have waited!

Kim crossed the cavernous room quickly, pausing only to frown at a transparent, glassy sphere hovering motionless by the control torus. She had never seen it in the ship before. She would have to ask the Doctor what it was for.

Kim went outside.

.

She emerged from the small copse of trees wherein the Tardis had materialised, to find the Doctor sitting on a park bench. Kim also found she recognised the location. She caught her breath.

Lampwick Park, in the London borough of Thamesford. Her old stamping ground.

The Doctor half-turned at her approach.

Something about his demeanour brought her up short. He sat hunched, a distracted look on his face. So different to his animation when he had greeted her for the first time in her new body, back in her little garden in Applebury.

He patted the bench beside him and she sat.

"Why here? I was expecting something... different. You know, far away places."

After a brief pause he inclined his head down the narrow path that led to the larger one that skirted the little lake.

Kim saw a figure struggling along that path, hampered by a pair of large shopping bags. Full to the brim and heavy too, by the looks of it.

Kim was about to ask the Doctor the point of all this when a clang of recognition kicked in. She squinted at the woman and let out her breath in a hissing sigh.

"That's my mother," she said quietly.

The Doctor nodded.

Kim started to rise. "Look. I've done this already. I don't want to go through all that again-"

The Doctor held out a restraining arm. Despite herself Kim sat down, staring with fascination at the ordinary trials and tribulations of Muriel Gideon as she struggled home across the park with her shopping.

"I don't want to meet myself again, either!" Kim said, with some feeling.

"It's OK. You haven't been born yet. It's May 1969."

Just then she saw her mother stumble as one of the shopping bags split open.

From a nearby bench a man rose and approached her mother, stooping to pick up some items from the path. Kim could see that they made some conversation before walking off together down the path and out of sight.

She turned to the Doctor. "Wow! Is that why we're here? To see that? Earth-shattering stuff!"

"That man was your father, Kim."

Kim glanced quickly down the now empty path. She flushed angrily. "You offered me the chance to meet my father once before. Why should I? He was never around when I grew up. Mom always said he did a runner as soon as she became pregnant. Some father. I've never met him and I don't want to now!"

The Doctor turned to her. "But you already have, Kim." He took her hand and they both stood. "Come on."

.

Back In the Tardis control room Kim found that she lost it.

"Why did you show me that?" Her new voice, when angry, sank even lower. She didn't wait for his answer. "And another thing, you look like you've sucked a lemon. I thought you were pleased about my...change. You arranged it, after all ! What's all the mystery..?"

"There's stuff you need to know," said the Doctor quietly. It was his quietness that unnerved her most of all.

"I think I know most of it. You did something to me that made me ...what's the word...regenerate. You saved my life. I'm grateful. Very grateful What I want to know is why?" In her mind he would say 'because I love you, Kim Gideon'. They would kiss and fly off around eternity together.

But he didn't.

The Doctor sighed. For the first time Kim noticed that his morphing T-Shirt was completely blank. "The Time Lords have a secret. A profound one. Never revealed to...off-worlders."

Off-worlders. It made her feel small, excluded, but she bit her tongue.

"We are entrusted with something." He fidgeted and looked evasive, like a kid who had been caught smoking behind the bicycle sheds.

"Spit it out."

"An ancient power. We call it the Spark of Infinity."

She waited.

"Nobody knows where it comes from. Only that it has to be passed on."

"Passed on? Where? What does it do?"

"When the stars go cold and everything dies, it regenerates the universe."

It sounded SO melodramatic."Oohh. Guardians of the Universe!" Kim rolled her eyes. This iteration of Kim Gideon seemed to have a well-developed sarcastic streak.

"Not guardians of this universe," said the Doctor, softly. "The next."

Her sarcasm drained away in the face of the Doctor's seriousness."Pretty heavy stuff," murmured Kim, uncertainly, wondering where this was leading."So, if I've got this right when the universe dies it is your job to sort of stoke it up again?"

"More or less. Only a completely new one. New galaxies, new natural laws, new everything."

Kim frowned. "And will there be Time Lords in the new universe? Will there be a...Doctor too?"

He shrugged. "Who can say? But the Spark must be passed on for the next Guardians, whoever they may be."

The Big Question. "So what's gone wrong?"

"We lost it."

"A bit careless, that."

"It was stolen, actually. By one of us."

"A Time Lord?"

"The Master."

She knew of him. Once, what seemed (and was) a lifetime ago, the Master had caught Kim in a complex false-reality trap that nearly claimed her life.

"So he's still running around causing mischief."

"This is a bit more than just mischief."

"What can he do with this Spark thing?"

"Nothing. It's indestructible. He can't use it in any way. It's beyond anyone."

"What's the point then?"

"The Master is mad. And he knows he is. He wants to put an end to his madness. An end to everything. Literally. If the Spark is not around when needed then this universe will be the last. When it dies...nothing."

Kim waited.

"So he had to hide it. In an impossible place where nobody would ever find it, or so he thought." The Doctor fidgeted with his hands, looking uncomfortable. "You know he's a genius. I told you that. Well, he conceived a devious plan. He hid the spark deep in his own DNA. The science involved is fantastic. There is no one else who could have done it. Then he sought...somebody. Somebody from a biologically compatible race. Then he passed on the Spark."

The Doctor stopped speaking and leaned back against the control torus, contemplating Kim.

She had a flash of deja-vu. Right back to the time when she had first entered the Tardis and the Doctor had explained things to her. He had paused then, just like this. She could see it clearly in her mind's eye. He had paused then to allow it all to sink in. And now he was doing it again.

The Doctor waited.

Another image elbowed into Kim's mind. A woman, overburdened with grocery bags, a helpful stranger...

She staggered with the realisation.

"I'm sorry, Kim."

"The Master...he's my... father?"

The Doctor's silence was enough.

"In what reality?" asked Kim, defiantly.

"The only one that matters, Kim."

She shook her head. "I've been here before. You can change this."

He shook his head.

"We can go back and stop them meeting or something. " Kim gesticulated at the door.

"And then where would Kim Gideon be?" He sighed, then began to speak with unaccustomed haste. "Time gave me clues, Kim. But I didn't see them. That mutated timeline where you were my daughter. A Time Lord's daughter. Then there was the fantastic coincidence of you choosing Skasis for our first trip where you just happened to fulfill the prophesy of the Childseer there. You thought it was a massive coincidence, remember? These were hints that you were anything but 'ordinary'. "

"But I had a life! Married with a daughter. I _was _ordinary...apart from meeting you."

The Doctor grimaced. "This is the hardest bit to explain, Kim. The Master made doubly sure that Kim Gideon would never be revealed as the Spark. He made it once removed. He engineered it so that the Spark could only be recovered if you regenerated. Something no human could possibly do. That was his impossible place to hide it. He thought it could never happen."

Kim felt sick. "But it did, thanks to you." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "How do you know all this?"

The Doctor's gaze slid past her left shoulder. There was a movement and Kim half-turned.

The transparent globe that she had previously noticed hovering across the room floated over, unhurriedly, until it was at the Doctor's side.

"It's a Matrix-Orb. Constructed to seek out the Spark using higher Time Lord technology. It's been roaming up and down my time stream, Kim. Looking for the Spark."

"And now it's found it." Her voice was tiny. "How long have we got?"

The Doctor shook his head and looked away. She tugged at his sleeve and he turned back.

"Why did you do it?"

"What?"

"Whatever it was that made me regenerate?"

"I told you Kim. It was a selfish thing. And I am very selfish as far as you are concerned."

She reached out and took his hands. "I thought that maybe you would love me like this..."

The Doctor swallowed. "Oh, Kim. I had... feelings...for you long before this."

"You can't say it can you? The 'L' word."

Silence.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked. They were almost whispering now.

"Because I saw your destiny. A long and happy marriage. A smashing chap called Jim Knapp. A daughter. I saw it all, Kim. I couldn't interfere with that."

"But you didn't see this?"

He shook his head. His eyes were full. He tried to speak but couldn't. She could.

"I thought we would travel forever. Live forever. The Doctor and Kim Gideon. Righting wrongs. Fixing Time. I know now it's not to be. But it's worth it. Just to hear you tell me what you've just told me. Thank you."

She brought up his hands and kissed the tips of his fingers. Then she let them go and took a step back.

Kim turned slightly to her left, staring up at the patiently hovering orb.

She raised her voice. "I'm ready."

A beam lanced out from the sphere, scanning her from head to toe and back again. Then the light intensified. Where it touched Kim, her molecules swirled away, flowing back up the stream of light into the globe, until there was nothing left of her.

The orb glowed with an internal fire. The Spark.

With a pulse of power it flew up and out of the Tardis, passing through the exo-shell of the police box as if it wasn't there. Harnessing unfathomable energy it punched a hole through reality, heading for the end of the universe.

It left behind a stillness in the Tardis control room.

A stillness broken only by the sound of a man sobbing...

(End of Part 14)


	15. Chapter 15

TONTINE

Part 15

Epilogue

Out at the end of time the last of the Time Lords stood in a perfect circle of thirteen. At the centre of the circle the Matrix Orb hovered, at its heart a burning, crackling, spark of light.

The President allowed himself a sidewards glance to his immediate left. There stood the Elder, impassively focused on the sphere. The President's eyes then moved around the group clockwise, taking in the others in turn.

The Clown, the Dandy, the Bohemian, the Sportsman, the Harlequin, the Comedian, the Poet, the Northerner, the Geek, the Youngster... he paused when he reached the figure at his immediate right hand. The President permitted himself a wry smile. He supposed that he must think of him as 'the Winner', now.

"The Tontine is over, brother. Yours is the right," said the President, the thirteenth Doctor.

The twelfth took a deep breath and stepped forward a pace. Almost immediately all the other figures began to flutter and fade. Entropy caressed them with its dead hand and they crumbled to dust.

Only the twelfth Doctor remained, alone at the end of the universe.

With trembling hands, he reached for the orb.

.

_Universes come; Universes go._

_They inflate from a single moment. A Big Bang. Event One. Hydrogen Inrush._

_Like anything else they have their time before dying; shrinking back to nothing. And the cycle repeats. Over and over. Universe after Universe._

_But the process is delicate. There are Guardians. Entrusted with a secret. The Spark of Infinity. No one knows who or what created the Spark. Such knowledge is not for the likes of us._

_In this Universe the Guardians were called Lords of Time. _

_As always, the Universe collapsed, its constituent atoms and molecules falling in on themselves until they formed a singularity, no larger than the full-stop at the end of this sentence. No one can say how long this took. Time had no meaning any more._

_Deep in this incredible density, just before the greatest explosion of all time (since the last one), the milli-fractional remnant of the Guardian known as the Doctor, amazingly, managed to articulate a single thought:_

_LET THERE BE LIGHT_

_And there was light..._

THE END


End file.
